On Every Street Corner You’ll Hear…

Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin…. Cha-Ching! If you’re dismayed that the holidays are less about young voices joyfully carolling but rather the jangle of a cash register and your dreaded to-do list, take heart: we’ve come up with a list of shopping-free ways to get you and your family into the holiday spirit.
The self-described “nearly world-famous” Dufflebag Theatre presents A Christmas Carol on December 2 at the Canadian Children’s Musem as part of the Alcatel-Lucent Ottawa International Children’s Festival. Geared for ages 3 and up, the play is described by Dufflebag as a “unique and imaginative adaptation of a holiday favourite starring unsuspecting members of the audience”. Tickets are a reasonable $10.70.

Christmas Lights Across Canada is the official name for the more than 300,000 lights installed each year by the National Capital Commission on and near Parliament Hill. Walk right up the steps of the Parliament buildings to touch and see the lights close-up. But first, drive up Elgin Street, then west on Wellington, to get the full effect from afar. (It’s more magical if you wait until the snow falls.) Lights are up from December 6 to January 6.

Show your kids what Christmas was like in the old days, (when you had to walk five miles to school uphill in the snow while your lunch froze). From November 30 to December 2, the village of Spencerville is hosting A Country Christmas Remembered, a festival of old-fashioned family activities including craft shows, games, displays, a Christmas farmers’ market, a starlight parade, a family skating party and horse-drawn rides.