Spectacular, Christmas Spectacular

UPDATE: So, remember how I was looking for the perfect holiday event to get in the Christmas mood? Last week, I found it.

After hearing all of the hype about this event on social media, hubby and I decided to buy tickets to Kitestring creative branding studio Christmas Spectacular event.

Now, we’ve been to a couple of events run by the Kitestring crew before, and they are a fun, ebullient bunch. We always have a good time and needless to say, we had high hopes for this event.

It didn’t disappoint.

So what made it so great?

In my post-party analysis, I came to the conclusion that this particular event ended up being the perfect blend of what many people are looking for this time of year, namely: 1) fun (including good food and drink) 2) giving back and 3) supporting local business.

First of all, it was held at the beautiful, grand old Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts building on James Street South. I had never been inside this building before (truth be told, I didn’t even know it was there until I spied it while walking to the GO station one day earlier this month).

Once inside, we were greeted with comfort food a-go-go – I’m talking Red Hill coffee bar, candy bar and Cake & Loaf COOKIES AND MILK bar (hubby’s fave). All hopped up on sugar and caffeine, we headed to the Christmas Pageant part of the evening’s event.

Yes, this was not a typical mix and mingle/drinks and hors d’oeuvres holiday party – the centrepiece of the event was a Christmas Pageant in the Conservatory’s theatre.

As the show went on, I mentioned to hubby that it felt like we were at a school Christmas play (in a good way) – we were entertained by local professional performers, young and old, with fabulous voices, dancing skills or musical talents (with one of our faves being blues guitarist Rita Chiarelli).

While we thoroughly enjoyed the pageantry part of the evening, the after party was where the event seemed to truly shine.

The Conservatory houses a fantastic loft space, complete with outdoor, rooftop patio (a little chilly at this time of year, but I got the picture.) A live rockabilly band was playing, party-goers were lined up to taste the alcoholic snowcones and a snack table that took me back to birthday party days (think chips, cupcakes & little sandwiches). Essentially, we were surrounded by food, drink, music and new friends. What more could you ask for from a Christmas party?

To top it all off, the event was for the greater good – each ticket paid for one month of after school arts programming with Culture for Kids in the Arts.

I could go on and on about this event, but you get the jist. If you get the chance next year, make sure you go!

Holidays in the Hammer

“Silver Bells, Silver Bells, its Christmastime in the city”

Holidays in the city: for me, this evokes thoughts of lights, shopping, trees and general merriment.

Well, normally, yes. But here we are – it’s our first holiday season in Hamilton, and I need to know what’s going on! I’m floundering a bit with respect to finding all of my usual holiday comforts (and its not just because there’s no snow!)

I’ll chalk it up to being one of the hazards of moving to a new city. Where we used to live, I knew all about 1) the Christmas parade 2) where the best lights were 3) best/most festive/most convenient shopping destinations.

Being a big fan of all the things that come along with this time of year, I’ve been pretty eager to discover what sorts of festive things are on offer in this new city of ours.

So, obviously, I took to the internet.

A quick Google search yielded these suggestions from Tourism Hamilton.

Oops, it appears we missed the tree lighting! But, I did pass by Gore Park the other day, and in addition to the monster Christmas Tree, they’ve got a great little nativity scene set up.

We also checked out one of the lower city's beautiful 100+ year-old churches the other night for a carol service, which did the job of getting us in the Christmas spirit.

More holiday events are listed here.

Part of me realizes it will take a few years to get up to par on all of the seasonal goings-on here in Hamilton. In the days leading up to Dec.25, I’ll be doing my best to find more festive activities. In the meantime, I’d love to hear some of your fave holiday traditions in The Hammer!