Prepare to hold onto your horses and bowls of chili because Diamond Valley is gearing up for some festive events this weekend.
Black Diamond and Turner Valley will host numerous events this weekend to kick off the holidays and the Christmas shopping season.
The Christmas Market at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick in Turner Valley runs Dec. 2 and Dec. 3 and organizers are anticipating the second market will be even more impressive than last year.
“We just try and make it bigger and better every year,” said organizer Saje Muraski. “Our goal is to just keep going and make it more of a festival event.”
A variety of different vendors from as far away as B.C. and Saskatchewan set up both inside the hall and outdoors and the event will boast wagon rides, hot food and a country Christmas village where people can take photos of their faces in festive cutouts. There will be a free daycare service at the Sheep River Library next door and Santa and Mrs. Claus will stop by Dec. 3 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Despite all the hard work, Muraski said it is worth it once the market weekend rolls around.
“Last year, everybody had such a good time,” she said. “We had tons of people coming and going. Everybody really appreciated that the daycare was there.”
Admission to the event is a donation to the Oilfields Food Bank or $2. Muraski said she started the market with fellow organizer Katherine Kemp with the idea to help to the food bank.
“Last year we filled two SUVs, and I mean filled, full of food for the food bank, plus gave them a lot of money so they could still buy turkeys and that kind of thing,” she said.
The market runs from 2 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday just in time for Light Up.
The annual Light Up tradition in Black Diamond kicks off at 5 p.m. with the arrival of Santa Claus outside the town office. Black Diamond Mayor Sharlene Brown said every year Santa makes his entrance in a different, surprise manner.
“We have all the kids waiting with anticipation, young and old, at the Town office parking lot to see how Santa is going to arrive this year,” she explained.
Brown said they have asked local businesses to be open late that night to accommodate all the holiday shoppers.
“It’s a wonderful time to see what’s available in our community, for residents to see what’s available in our community with our local shops,” she explained. “It’s an opportunity for local shops to start getting into the Christmas spirit.”
The event also helps kick off the town’s passport program, where people take a passport to local businesses to be stamped and turn it in for a chance to win prizes, explained Barb Froud, chair of the Black Diamond special events committee.
For businesses that can’t be open late, the program incorporates them by sending people to count candy canes on their establishment, which they record in their passport, she added.
Froud said the program’s goal is to encourage people to shop locally and it was successful last year.
The passport program was a new element to Light Up last year, while this year there will be a chili cook-off as well.
“There’s something new and exciting every year,” said Brown.
Businesses will square off in the cook-off, and residents can sample each creation for $5. The proceeds will go to the Oilfields Food Bank.
The annual Black Diamond Light Up has been held for about 10 to 15 years and is a popular event, said Brown.
“When you look up and down the streets of Black Diamond in the downtown core, you’re exceeding probably around 1,500 to 2,000 people,” she said. “So it’s quite the night.”
The Towns of Turner Valley and Black Diamond are co-sponsoring the weekend’s events, while the Village of Longview donated two tents to the market.
Between Light Up and the Christmas Market, Brown said it is a great co-ordination of events for the area.
“It’s a fabulous weekend in the Diamond Valley region.”
Light Up runs Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
