Saturday December 3, 2022 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated 4:40 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
As part of the Langford Winter Festival, tonight the public outdoor Langford Lightup event at Veterans Memorial Park runs from 6 pm to 8 pm.
Santa will arrive. The big sequoia tree will be lit up at 7:30 pm.
The festively lit truck parade will drive by at Veterans Memorial Park at around 8 pm (having started in downtown Victoria at 5 pm); donations for the local food bank can be made along the route which is expected to attract about 100,000 people (along the full route).
To avoid the cold tonight, people could watch the parade live on CHEK TV or on their Facebook page.
There are 76 trucks in the parade tonight; that’s fewer than in previous years due to snow on the Malahat. All commercial vehicles were checked for proper tires (and chains on tires) yesterday on the Malahat.
The final float features the Grinch instead of Santa this year!
Other activities at the park tonight:
There will be lots of other fun stuff to do too. Refreshments include hot chocolate.
Visit Veterans Memorial Park for a holiday market, musical performances by PACE Musical Theatre, Ablaze Choir and Westshore Community Band, visits with Santa, kids crafts, balloon artist, face painting, free hot dogs and hot chocolate.
Weather:
As of 6 pm start of the event, the temperature in Langford was 3°C (feeling like -1°C). That’s a bit colder than most people in the Victoria area are used to, even in December.
It snowed earlier in the day, but skies are clear tonight, with a nearly full (waxing) moon.
Downtown location:
Veterans Memorial Park is located at the busy major intersection of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Goldstream Ave.
Parking will be limited within close range of the event; the City encourages people to walk, use public transit, or park in free parking lots in other parts of downtown Langford.
In previous years there has been traffic control, mostly for the decorated truck parade coming through.
Back after COVID:
The Annual Langford Light Up returns for the first time since 2019.
The 2020 and 2021 Christmas lightup seasonal events were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.
Langford Station:
There will also be activities and music across the street outdoors at Langford Station including crafts, ice carving, performances by PACE Choir, food trucks, local retailers and more.
The Langford Station opened on May 20, 2022.
===== RELATED:
Langford focus on Xmas dinner bird supply (December 3, 2022)
Fresh-cut Xmas trees as popular as ever in Langford (December 2, 2022)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends covers news that matters within the local west shore and regional community.
This local journalism service has been operating since 2008 in the west shore: first as MapleLine Magazine 2008-2010, then Sooke Voice News 2011-2013, then West Shore Voice News 2014-2020, then emerging fully online mid-2020 at islandsocialtrends.ca
Mary P Brooke has been the editor and publisher of Island Social Trends and all the previous publications (2008 to present).
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