Christmas is in the air! Over the past few weekends downtown Brampton has been celebrating the arrival of the holidays. The city has held a Christmas Tree-Lighting, Santa Clause Parade, and Christmas Market. I attended the Christmas Tree-Lighting which was hosted in and around Gage Park.
Upon arrival I was disappointed, not because it was a bad event, but because Brampton has never hosted a Christmas Tree-Lighting like this before. Brampton really stepped up its game after multiple years of no Christmas events.
In front of City Hall there was a stage with performances throughout the night and – of course – the Christmas tree itself. Main Street hosted many of the vendors. You were able to purchase food from multiple restaurants, meet with firefighters and go into a firetruck, and take pictures outside of the Coca-Cola truck.
The event really got interesting, though, once you got to Wellington Street. There were two fair rides:a Ferris Wheel and a spinning strawberry ride. When I saw them, I immediately thought, “Where was this when I was a kid?”
Finally, Gage Park was home to some of the main attractions: a Christmas market (perfect to buy gifts for friends and family) and food trucks with foods such as Beaver Tails and poutine. And, in the middle of the park, the event that shocked me the most: a petting zoo. This petting zoo included ponies for children to ride on and two camels! Once again, I wondered where all this was when I was younger. However, I soon began to wonder about the safety of the animals. Should camels really be outside in the Canadian winter?
Despite my moral compass kicking in, this event blew my mind. Brampton really set the bar high with this event, I can’t wait to see if they can raise it even further next time.
Comments