It’s Festival of Lights time here in Summerland and, much like there is every year, there’s no shortage of cultural things to do around town.
The big, hard to miss thing, to do this weekend is the Light Up event on Friday night. Main Street floods with people, families, vendors and music to celebrate the holiday season. With all the merry chaos, it can be hard, especially if you’re new to Summerland, to figure out any one thing to do.
The main stage is always a great place to start. Starting at 5:15 and going through until the end of the night, music will be featured here with performances by the Trout Creek Elementary School Choir, Robyn and Ryleigh and headliner The Chris Buck Band.
If music isn’t so much your thing, ice carvers will be doing their thing in the Nesters parking lot—which is always amazing to watch, especially considering I can barely get the cubes out of the tray without destroying at least one.
You can also take some time to visit downtown vendors or stop by and visit the Summerland Art Gallery, whose 12 Gifts of Christmas Sale starts that night and runs until December 24th.
Of course, you can’t go downtown during this event without enjoying the official Light Up ceremony at 7 p.m., when the Christmas lights come on downtown. And you also can’t miss the fireworks, which start at 8:30 p.m.
For a complete schedule pop over to www.summerlandlightup.com and plan your night.
If you’re looking for something a little different to do this weekend, but you’re still in the holiday frame of mind, then Light Up the Vines is for you. Now in its fifth year, Light up the Vines is a great excuse to get out and enjoy one last tour of Summerland’s wineries and cideries and see our local vineyards lit up like, well, Christmas trees. There are food and wine pairings on offer, as well as other exciting things like music to be enjoyed—local duo Timbre Wolves are playing at Saxon Winery on Nov. 28 starting at 4 p.m.
You can tour around on your own, meandering self-guided tour for the event or get involved in one of the many guided tours that are offered on both the Saturday and the Sunday.
Please remember to stay safe if you’re out on your own and don’t drink and drive.
For more information visit: www.bottleneckdrive.com.
The great thing about events like these is the way they not only bring the community together, but bring people to Summerland to explore and get to know our arts and cultural scene a little better, from helping people discover a new favourite band to helping someone find that perfect little gift for the art lover in your life, so get on out there and enjoy three days of fun here in Summerland.
Douglas Paton is a Summerland writer and musician. If you know of a local arts and culture event, contact him at dgpaton80@gmail.com.
