Get your holidays started

Tis the season to start getting into the festivities.

The Town of Oakville will be glowing with holiday spirit starting Friday. This year, the Oakville Tree Lighting Ceremony is taking place on November 15th from 7-9 p.m. in Centennial Square. People can get in the holiday spirit by taking photos with Santa, listening to festive music, and taking a stroll through the holiday market. 

The Mayor of Oakville, Rob Burton, says, “It’s great to see the community spirit at the Tree Lighting Ceremony. You see people from all over Oakville of all ages gathering at the same place in the same spirit. It’s part of what makes our Town so livable and the best place to live in Canada.”

One of the best parts of the event is that it’s free to attend.

Centennial Square will be featuring a 50 ft. blue spruce Christmas Tree that will be decorated beautifully in red and gold. For the first time ever, there will also be LED swings and a 10.5 ft. 3D illuminated ornament perfect for capturing photos. At 8 p.m. the tree will be lit by Santa.

Colin Jones is a student at The University of Waterloo who frequently attends the yearly celebration. He said, “I go to the event because I generally just enjoy the Christmas vibe and the mood it sets me in. It leaves me feeling great and looking forward to the holidays and spending time with my family.”

Photo from 2018’s tree lighting event

The holiday market will include a variety of vendors:

  • British Grocer
  • Chesnut Cart 
  • COBS Bread 
  • Dove + Arrow 
  • Maker’s Mojo 
  • Olives en folie 
  • Sugar Suite Cakes 
  • Ten Thousand Villages 
  • The Ten Spot 
  • Tribeca Coffee Co

And there will be more holiday celebrations this weekend. The Town of Oakville is also hosting its 71st consecutive Santa Claus Parade (one of the biggest outside of Toronto) on November 16th starting at 9 a.m. Colourful floats, walking and dancing groups, marching bands, and costumed characters are some sights you can see at the parade. 

This year’s theme is: “Things we do at Christmas time” and rain or shine the event will go on. It will start in Downtown Oakville at Lakeshore Road East and Reynolds Avenue (see the map below for the parade route).

2019 Santa Claus parade route

To make parking easier for those attending the event, Gael Little, the Santa Claus Parade Lead, said via e-mail, “To facilitate the shortage of parking in the downtown core on the morning of the Parade, Oakville hosts a Santa Claus shuttle service from the Oakville GO station. This shuttle runs until 11:30 a.m. and is very frequent. Express to the Parade Route! So drive to the Oakville GO Station and ride the Oakville Transit Santa shuttle to the Parade!”