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Christmas season in Red Deer begins with Festival of Trees

The kickoff to the Christmas season in Red Deer is upon us.
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Abiagail Kondrat was one of thousands of volunteers who made last year’s Festivals of Trees possible once again. This year’s festival begins Wednesday night. (Advocate file photo)

The kickoff to the Christmas season in Red Deer is upon us.

The 24th annual Festival of Trees gets underway Thursday, and ends Sunday at Westerner Park.

Nearly $14 million has been raised for the Red Deer Regional Hospital over the past 23 years.

“There’s something for everyone at the Festival of Trees,” said Alaine Martin, events manager for the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation.

Things get started Wednesday at 6 p.m. for platinum to silver donors, with a preview dinner and silent auction gala.

The festival opens to the public Thursday with a few events, including the festival business lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The event will give professionals a chance to connect while enjoying a holiday meal and a presentation from Bobby Umar, executive leadership coach and authority on professional branding.

There will also be an appreciation afternoon, with free events for festival volunteers and seniors starting at 12:30 p.m. for seniors and 4 p.m. for volunteers Thursday.

Later in the day, close to 20 restaurants will have food available at the Taste of Red Deer from 6 to 9 p.m.

“There will be entrees, appetizers and desserts. You can have supper there very inexpensively and whatever you do spend goes towards the hospital,” said Martin.

The festival of wines is Friday from 8 to 11 p.m.

On Saturday, there will be a festival fashion brunch at 10:30 a.m. and mistletoe magic from 6 to 11 p.m.

Santa Claus will be in town for the final event Sunday, when people can eat breakfast with Saint Nick at 9 a.m.

The Festival of Trees will be open to the public Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Candy Cane Lane will be open every day other than Thursday.

The whole community comes together to make the Festival of Trees a success, said Martin.

“We always have such a dynamic group of volunteers who put this festival on.

“They’re always looking for ways to improve it and refresh it to bring people out every year,” she said.

Martin has been involved with the festival for 10 years – as a volunteer and staff member. Seeing the smiles on all the faces during the festival feels great, she said.

The money raised at the festival will support hematology and microbiology in the Red Deer Regional Hospital’s laboratory services.

Martin said she hopes to raise enough money to get automated machines to make the work they do more efficient and create less margin for error.

“It would help the patients, the doctors, and the whole system. The lab does over three million of these kinds of tests every year so it would make a big impact,” she said.

More information can be found at www.reddeerfestivaloftrees.ca.



sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com

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Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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