Santa Claus parades, Magic of Lights kickoff Christmas season in Ottawa
The floats are ready, and Santa Claus will be back in Ottawa Saturday.
"We’re right in the middle of getting our floats finalized for tomorrow's Help Santa Toy Parade," says Bob Rainboth, Santa’s Parade of Lights chairman.
It’s the 53rd annual Help Santa Toy Parade, an event which helps families celebrate Christmas.
"Our firefighters will be picking up toys, cash donations," says Rainboth, noting donations will support the CTV and MOVE 100 Toy Mountain for the Salvation Army.
And for those not attending, donations can now be made online. And if you don’t carry cash to the parade, new this year, you can tap your credit card or mobile device to instantly donate $10.
A demonstration on the tap to donate boot for the Help Santa Toy Parade. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa)
This is the first full fledged parade since the pandemic stared.
"Feels awesome," says Rainboth. "It's a lot of work. A lot of individuals working in different areas and working with our partner agencies, our sponsors, our participants, and the enthusiasm is amazing."
Santa Claus will then guide his sleigh to Barrhaven for an evening parade on Sunday. Residents being urged to help the local food bank.
"You know, we're seeing a 45 per cent increase in our services, so it's huge," says Matt Triemstra, Barrhaven Food Cupboard director of communications.
"So we are asking every Barrhaven resident to bring either a non-perishable food item or a cash donation and we have a float in the parade. And we'll have volunteers, the Cadet Corps, that are walking with us, grabbing food from the lines, putting it on the floats."
And one of the most popular Christmas attractions in this region starts Friday night. It’s the Magic of Lights at Wesley Clover Parks. A two-kilometre route illuminated by nearly one million lights.
"We’ve expanded this year to open up the Mark Motors Group Holiday Pit Stop, where people can get out of their vehicles, come and take some photos with some of the displays," says Michelle Wright, Wesley Clover Parks Community Events Manager. “We have a walk through tunnel, which is very popular for the other site, the drive through tunnel. So you’ll actually walk though the building right behind me, through the tunnel and come out through the village."
The Help Santa Toy Parade starts Saturday at 11 a.m., the Barrhaven Santa Claus Parade starts Sunday at 5:30 p.m., and the Magic of Lights runs until January 7.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests about relationship with Prince Harry
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Boy Scouts of America is rebranding. Here's why they're now named Scouting America
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Rape, terror and death at sea: How a boat carrying Rohingya children, women and men capsized
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
'A huge difference': These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
How Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap beef escalated within weeks
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
Whooping cough epidemic sweeps Europe, health agency says
European countries have reported a surge in whooping cough cases in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, with 10 times as many identified as in each of the previous two years.