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Winter Lights Festival involves many merchants and events

Winter Lights is a festival that celebrates the connection between our Williams Lake community and the downtown merchants.
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WLCBIA presents the Winter Lights festival from Dec. 4-6 in Williams Lake.

Kate Lines

Special to the Tribune/Advisor

Winter Lights is a festival that celebrates the connection between our Williams Lake community, our extended communities, and the downtown merchants.

The festival is Dec 4, 5, and 6 this year and WLCBIA has planned activities and events designed to bring our communities and downtown merchants together.

The WLCBIA has been overwhelmed with the participation, support and excitement coming from the downtown merchants.

Just look at how many merchants are participating in the events.

In addition to participating in the festival events, many merchants have committed to staying open late on Dec. 4 and 5, and to opening on Sunday, Dec. 6 to help the festival create an atmosphere of community, celebration, and Christmas!

There will be buskers, photo stations, a town crier, Santa Parade, carolling, Timber Kings, free professional portraits by Laureen Carruthers and Jana Roller, Mrs. Claus storytelling, winter lights and so much more.

Winter Lights cakewalk

A total of 59 downtown merchants are donating cakes for the Cakewalk events taking place in the Red Tomato Pies building at 370 Proctor Street.

Participants will decorate the cakes to advertise their business and a short information notice will be read out by the master of ceremonies as each cake is scheduled to be given away.

The venue will be decorated lavishly for the festival and be hopping with fun things to do and see.

The Cakewalk, will be spread over two days for a total of nine hours: Friday, Dec 4 from 2 to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, Dec. 5 from 2 to 6 p.m.

Enough cakes have been donated to have a cake walk every 10 minutes.

Photos of each cake will be taken and posted on Facebook and at the venue so that people can plan to participate in the walk for their favourite cakes.

The fee is only $1 to participate in each cakewalk, with funds raised helping to defray the  festival expenses.

Window decorating contest

A total of 39 downtown merchants will be decorating their windows in the Old Fashioned Country Christmas theme for the festival.

The decorating contest will have two categories: seniors judging and Facebook judging.  Who knows maybe one merchant will win in both categories.

Look for a map of all the window locations in the festival information booklet coming out soon.

Carollers will be walking through the downtown streets on Friday evening, Dec. 3 to bring good cheer at each of the 39 window displays.

Seniors Village residents will judge the window displays the same evening after 6 p.m.

Facebook judging will be based only on “likes.” People are advised to tell merchants directly if they think they are doing an awesome job.

The merchants will hang a poster on their windows inviting festival goers to “like us on Facebook.”  The window with the most “likes,” wins.

Rosettes will be awarded for first, second and third place in each category.

Presentations will be made Sunday, Dec. 6 at 11 a.m. in front of the festival information hub at the WLCBIA office, 327 Oliver.

Do-it-yourself workshops

Twenty downtown merchants are committing to host a Do-It-Yourself Workshop for the Winter Lights 2015 Festival.

The festival theme of Old Fashioned Country Christmas makes Do-It-Yourself workshops the perfect activity. Gather up friends and family and learn how to make things yourself, just like we did in the old days.

The WLCBIA is very excited to see the connections that will be made between community members and merchants during this fun-filled, relationship-building activity.

The workshops will be scheduled during the first two days of the three-day festival:  Friday and Saturday from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Look for information about each of these Do-It-Yourself workshops in the Festival Info Book.

Food and drink challenge Dec. 4-6

Thirteen downtown merchants have committed to inventing a festive food and/or drink to be launched at the festival.

The WLCBIA is very excited to see the creative edibles they will be serving up to festival goers at its Old Fashioned Country Christmas-themed Winter Lights event.

Festival food and drink locations, descriptions and prices will be available in the festival booklet including delights such as gourmet hot chocolate; drink or cocktail; appetizer; festive meal or decadent dessert.

The Festive Food and Drink Challenge is Dec 4, 5 and 6 and the challenge will run for one week ending on Friday, Dec. 11.

Festival participants who sample items from the festival menu will have the opportunity to give the menu item a rating out of five snowflakes.

On Saturday, Dec. 12 the WLCBIA will pick up the ballots, and tally up the results. The winners of the five trophies, one for each kind of menu item, will be announced.

Midday Madness runs Dec. 6

A total of 42 downtown merchants are committed to offering sales during the Winter Lights Festival’s Midday Madness event taking place from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6.

The city’s town crier and a city fire truck will be stationed at the BIA office to launch the event.

There will be multiple Red Light Sales every 30 minutes throughout the downtown core that will be announced by the town crier.

The WLCBIA is very excited to see the deals they’ll be offering to festival goers.

Look for details in the Tribune’s four-page spread that will be published on Wednesday, Dec 2.