Several Christmas-themed stage productions and exhibits open, radiating a sense of old-fashioned Western hospitality. And it isn’t the commercialized kind of fabricated holiday joy but a community-kindled sense of Christmas merriment.

Zoolights
Mix in Christmas with a little bit of education of our natural world with the Calgary Zoo’s spectacular annual light show: Zoolights. In partnership with Enmax, the Zoo installs some 2,000,000 Christmas lights across its grounds in fun, fantastic and feral shapes.

Running from November 27 to January 3, Zoolights is one of Western Canada’s most spectacular holiday light shows and a beloved Christmas tradition in the city since it started in 1997. It is fun for the whole family with interactive displays that will engage all five senses.

It’s not all about twinkling lights, as children also get a chance to chat with Santa direct from the North Pole with the Zoo’s exclusive SantaVision. Guests also get free hot chocolate to fortify against the chill and firepits throughout the grounds will keep them toasty warm as they listen to the festive choirs singing seasonal favourites.

There are designated kid’s play areas, including Snowball Alley, Snow Bowling, The Reindeer Stables or Snigloo where kids can make their own igloos. Other favourites are Candy Cane Lane and the Tunnel of Love.

The Zoo has also a buffet breakfast with Santa on December 12. It is a fun family-friendly interpretative show where kids can get their pictures taken with jolly old Saint Nick at the African Savannah building. For more information, visit http://www.calgaryzoo.org.

The Nutcracker
Magic returns this holiday season with Alberta Ballet’s new production of The Nutcracker at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Choreographed by Edmund Stripe, this most beloved Tchaikovsky fairy tale-ballet is coming home from a sold-out world-premiere tour that delighted audiences last year.

Additional scenery and new choreography is sure to lift this Alberta holiday tradition to even greater heights this festive season. The show runs from December 18 to 26. For more information, go to
www.albertaballet.com.

Once Upon A Christmas at Heritage Park
Experience the wonder and charm of an old fashioned Christmas at Once Upon a Christmas, returning to Heritage Park Historical Village, Saturdays and Sundays, November 21st until December 20th, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“This time-honoured tradition is the perfect way to get into the true spirit of the holidays!” says Heritage Park Communication Specialist Barb Munro.

Visitors can get started with a mouth-watering Christmas Breakfast Buffet in the elegant Wainwright Hotel (tickets have to be pre-purchased). Take in the splendor and beauty of the park decked out for the season while on a festive horse-drawn wagon ride. Tour three of the park’s historical homes, each uniquely decorated to represent different holiday traditions from 100 years ago.

There are shops where one can get one-of-a-kind gifts in the new Haskayne Mercantile Block. Children will love getting lost in the children’s maze; decorating gingerbread men and picking up gifts for mom and dad in our Kid’s Only store, located in the Burns Barn.

“Our roving theatre troupe will entertain and delight with a new spin on an old favourite, the prairie version of “A Christmas Carol”, while all are welcome to sing Christmas carols of their own in St. Martin’s Church. Listen for those sleigh bells, because ‘you know who’ will be stopping by for a visit,” she adds.

Heritage Park also has the Christmas By Lamplight Dinner (two nights only, on December 2 and 9), which gives guests a taste of an old-fashioned Christmas feast, complete with carolers, a horse-drawn wagon ride and an exclusive shopping experience at the Heritage Park Historical Village and an opportunity for family Christmas photos at the Wainwright Hotel. For more information, visit http://www.heritagepark.ca.

Lion’s Festival of Lights
The Lion’s Festival of Lights that goes up in Federation Park in the northwest is another free public light show. Running from November 28 to January 7, 2010, the Lion’s light spectacle has been going on since 1986, attracting nearly 5,200 visitors a day, its website claims.

It is organized by the Lions Club of Calgary with 20 separate chapters contributing.

So bundle up and enjoy the sights and sounds of Calgary at Christmas and find your sense of community with the city’s own brand of Western-tinged holiday spirit.

A Christmas Carol
You can’t have Christmas in Calgary without catching the annual Theatre Calgary production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” at the Max Bell Theatre. Adapted by Jerry Patch and directed by Dennis Garnhum, this traditional Calgary holiday treat has been enthralling audiences young and old for several years.

The critically acclaimed play stars Scrooge and the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future, featuring Stephen Hair as Scrooge — whose “Bah, humbug!” is as mean-spirited as it gets.

“Our annual production is a much anticipated tradition that reminds us of the importance of generosity and kindness,” Garnhum says.

It had played to sold-out houses last season and it would be wise to make bookings early, as A Christmas Carol is not included in Theatre Calgary’s five-play subscription series. Visit http://www.theatrecalgary.com for more details.

Airdrie’s Festival of Lights
Nothing epitomizes the sense of community in Christmas better than Airdrie’s Festival of Lights — it is a purely private initiative with no public funding and is absolutely free to everyone. Held every year at the Nose Creek Park, the Airdrie Festival of Lights began in 1996 when former city alderman and community volunteer Stan Softley formed a small group that eventually became the Airdrie Festival of Lights Society.

The society is an independent not-for-profit organization that manages and operates the Holiday light show, and almost all the funds needed to operate it are sourced from internal funding, including visitor donations and revenue from operating refreshment stands, a gift shop and two miniature train rides.

It is the largest free light show in Western Canada and boasts many fun activities such as performances by the Youth Singers of Calgary, the Heebie Jeebies and the Talisman Energy Choir.