Chinook Blast Winter Festival Get ready for Chinook Blast, a six-week socially distanced winter festival that will warm up your social calendar and bring the community together. Chinook Blast kicks off with High Performance Rodeo, Calgary’s International Festival of the Arts, and finishes with Block Heater, winter’s answer to the Calgary Folk Music Festival. Ready to make some winter memories with family and friends? Get ready for Chinook Blast!
YYC Hot Chocolate Fest (February) Have you ever tried peanut butter and jam hot chocolate? Or how about a chicken bone candy spin for a flavorful twist? These are just a few favorites that have been showcased at Calgary’s annual YYC Hot Chocolate Fest. Don’t burn your tongue as you taste your way through every inventive Hot Chocolate that the new year brings. Competing for the coveted titles of YYC’s Best Hot Chocolate, Best Spirited Hot Chocolate, and special Cup That Runneth Over Award participating cafés, restaurants, and chocolatiers are bringing their A-game to their elevated cup of hot cocoa.
Calgary is Crazy for Curling
Curling is one of Canada’s national sports and in Calgary, we rock! Calgary hosts 2 annual curling competitions that bring a new kind of quirk to the sport. Curling and tubing meet at Calgary’s annual Human Bonspiel. Teams of 4 compete in a curling style competition, as they launch down the ice on a tube in place of a curling stone to try and make it as close to the target as possible. The Beltline neighbourhood celebrates all of Calgary’s winter goodness with the annual Beltline Bonspiel. Locals come together with teams to compete in a friendly curling competition and enjoy local eats and drinks with their neighbours and friends. Whether you are throwing the rock in the Beltline are acting as one as you slide across the ice on a tube, its safe to safe Calgary is crazy for curling.
Outdoor ice skating in Calgary Calgary’s dreamy outdoor skating rinks could convince anyone to lace up their skates and embrace the winter season. Glide along the crystal-clear ice at numerous outdoor rinks and immerse yourself in a winter wonderland. Skate under the stars at the Bowness Park lagoon and then warm yourself with hot chocolate by the fire light. Or relive the magic of the 1988 Winter Olympics with a skate at Olympic Plaza. Embrace the enchantment of winter in the heart of Calgary.
Cross-country ski and connect with nature in the city With endless greenspace covered in a blanket of white with the glistening winter snow, Calgary’s parks provide a wintery retreat for cross-country skiers, right in the hear of the city. With the sun beaming down in Canada’s sunniest major city, cross-country skiers can get out, explore and feel the warmth in the winter wonderland that is Calgary.
Visit the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary Misunderstood, with kind, timid hearts, wolfdogs have found a little slice of heaven at the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary. This non-for-profit organization is a force dedicated to educating the world about these unique and loveable creatures. Pay a visit, pet a wolfdog and help the sanctuary care for these gorgeous Northern creatures.
Once Upon a Christmas at Heritage Park During the Christmas season, Heritage Park opens its doors to celebrate the magic of Christmas. Couples can enjoy festive wagon rides, sing carols, or visit old Saint Nick for festive photos. It’s an old-fashioned Christmas like no other that transports you back in time to old yuletide traditions.
Zoo Lights at the Calgary Zoo Experience over 2 million holiday lights, 200 displays, crackling fire pits and fun-filled activity zones at the Calgary Zoo. Couples can explore outdoors and indoors to interact with displays and activities found throughout the zoo such as skating and crafts. Many of the light displays are interactive and make for gorgeous Instagram-able moments couples can make as part of their Christmas experience.
Polar Express at Aspen Crossing BELIEVE in the spirit of Christmas with a unique and romantic Christmas train ride to the North Pole at Aspen Crossing. Complete with hot chocolate and cookies served on board, couples will be entertained by many of the characters from the movie, as well as a reading from The Polar Express™ book. Even better, couples can come dressed cozy and warm in their pajamas as part of the Polar Express Christmas theme.
Spruce Meadows Christmas Market Enjoy a warm and festive Christmas market where you can find world-imported items, hand crafted gifts, and watch colourful entertainment in a romantic and magical setting during this Christmas season. Running three consecutive weekends during the month of November, it’s the perfect opportunity to spend quality time with a loved one while getting some Christmas shopping done! Noel Christmas Festival Back for its second year in Calgary, the Noel Indoor Christmas Lights festival is taking a COVID-friendly approach to keep a holiday twinkle in your eye. From November 26th until January 3rd, experience the wonder of Calgary’s largest indoor light festival showcasing four themed light parks. The festival will include Santa’s Village, food trucks, and a fully licensed artisan vendor market with music and entertainment. Located at the BMO Centre, this one-of-a-kind Calgary Christmas experience is one you don’t want to miss. For more information visit their website Noel Christmas.
Photos Courtesy of Tourism Calgary, dabertime, Roth and Ramberg Photography, Sergei Belski