{"id":22215,"date":"2018-11-15T14:44:21","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T19:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=22215"},"modified":"2018-11-15T14:44:21","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T19:44:21","slug":"christmas-market-returns-for-three-day-holiday-extravaganza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/christmas-market-returns-for-three-day-holiday-extravaganza\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Market returns for three-day holiday extravaganza"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get ready for the start of a new local tradition as the Town of Aurora gets ready to launch a new three-day outdoor Christmas Market on November 30.
\nOutdoor Christmas markets, particularly in Toronto\u2019s Distillery District, have been traditional destinations for local families for many years. Aurorans got an appetizer of what a Christmas Market might look like here in Town at last year\u2019s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and such was the success of the appetizer, the Aurora is ready to enjoy a full-blown banquet.
\n\u201cThe overwhelmingly positive response to last year\u2019s mini-market gave us the encouragement to take that event and transition it into a three-day, 27-hour event,\u201d says Shelley Ware, Special Events Coordinator for the Town of Aurora, of the first Christmas Market, which was approved by Council last year after a motion from Councillor Tom Mrakas. \u201cThe whole event supported a festive feeling regardless of anyone\u2019s holiday backgrounds and I think everyone walked away with a little more spirit inside. We are optimistic that our lineup of entertainment and market features this year will certainly attract people and encourage them to come all three days. It\u2019s impossible to go just one day and be able to see it all!\u201d
\nEach market day \u2013 afternoon and evening \u2013 offers something different.
\nIt kicks off November 30 from 6 \u2013 9 p.m. with the Town\u2019s Official Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in the forecourt of Town Hall. While the tree itself will be a focal point, the Marketplace will be well underway on the other side of the parking lot at the Aurora Seniors\u2019 Centre.
\n\u201cBetween the Tree Lighting, there will be live reindeer and 18 outdoor market vendors, eleven indoor vendors, in addition to Mrs. Claus doing her readings and Marquee Theatrical Productions, which will be doing a theatre performance called The Elf Named Buddy,\u201d Ms. Ware explains. \u201cAs well, there will be kids\u2019 make-and-take crafts in one of the rooms and we\u2019re also fortunate to have the Salvation Army Kettle Band performing.\u201d
\nMarket vendors on this first night include Caterina\u2019s Kitchen, which is a firm favourite at the Aurora Farmers\u2019 Market, and local artisan Bill Hack, who will be selling all sorts of unique tools made out of hockey sticks. And that\u2019s just a teaser.
\n\u201cWe will have a Holiday Bingo concept to motivate you to circulate through all the vendors,\u201d says Ms. Ware. \u201cEveryone will be given a Bingo card and, as you tour around to the different vendors, you can have it stamped. Once you have two lines made on your Bingo card, we will be raffling off a prize package of vendors every hour on the hour.
\n\u201cWe want you to experience firsthand an event that quickly became one of the most talked about events in our community. There\u2019s so much offered for all stages and ages of your family, whether they are into live theatre, whether they are of the age to be mesmerized to meet Mrs. Claus, where they have the curiosity to see live reindeer, a fire-juggling show, the magic of the tree lighting, there are just so many features within this short three-hour span that it is really something to experience.\u201d
\nAnd the experience continues well beyond this three-hour window.
\nThe Christmas Market will be back the next day \u2013 Saturday, December 1 \u2013 from 12 noon to 9 p.m., with a full Busker theme. Five different buskers will be performing throughout the day, and the Duffle Bag Theatre Company will offer two live performances of A Christmas Carol. The Borealis Big Band will also be on hand for two one-hour concerts while families looking for hands-on fare will be able to take part in free cookie-decorating activities.
\nThe next day \u2013 Sunday, December 2 \u2013 the Market will run from 12 noon to 6 p.m.
\nThe day\u2019s activities will feature live performances from the Aurora United Church choir, Spectrum Baton Club with their fire baton presentation, a free pancake breakfast between 12 noon and 1.30 p.m., and performances from the Aurora Community Band.
\nHands-on activities will once again be the order of the day with gingerbread house workshops for $5 where all materials will be supplied, as well as a festive planter-building workshop facilitated by the Town\u2019s horticulturalists, or $25 per planter.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll be ending the whole experience with a nativity narrative put on by Northridge Community Church,\u201d says Ms. Ware. <\/p>\n

For more information on the Aurora Christmas Market, visit www.aurora.ca\/christmasmarket.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Get ready for the start of a new local tradition as the Town of Aurora gets ready to launch a new three-day outdoor Christmas Market on November 30.
\nOutdoor Christmas markets, particularly in Toronto\u2019s Distillery District, have been traditional destinations for local families for many years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5Mj","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-01 18:39:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}