Imagine a park wonderland aglow
with thousands of twinkling lights and a show every half hour when glittering lights
dance to holiday music.
That is the thrill awaiting
families when Lake Compounce, New England’s family theme park, inaugurates its
first Holiday Lights season on weekends beginning November 29. The park,
located in Bristol, in Western Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills, is one of a trio
of special events for families in Litchfield and Fairfield Counties.
Lights are not the only fun planned
at Lake Compounce. Family rides and Kiddieland rides will be in operation, strolling
carolers will fill the park with song, an ice carver will create frozen
sculptures, and the park’s train will be transformed into the North Pole
Railway, operated by a certain special bearded conductor dressed in red. Indoor activities will include cookie
decorating, gingerbread house making and the chance to send a letter to Santa,
with a guaranteed reply to come in the mail a few days later. Santa himself
will be waiting in the Starlight Theater to pose for pictures with his young
fans.
Holiday
Lights will be open 5 p.m. to 9 pm. on Friday, and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays
and Sundays, November 29-December 1, and December 6-8, 13-15 and 20-22. For
more information, see www.lakecompounce.com
See
Santa’s Village, Meet Santa’s Reindeer
No need to travel to the North Pole to visit Santa
this holiday season. Every year since 1947, Santa and Mrs. Claus have been at
home in Torrington’s Christmas Village, greeting friends in a “living room” where
a log fire crackles in the fireplace and the ceiling sparkles with tinsel and
lights. After a chat with Santa and a small gift, kids can head for the
toy-filled workshop where local “elves” from the Parks and Recreation
Department are busy with toys destined for youngsters in the town hospital.
Live reindeers are waiting in a pen outside.
It is wise to come early as families do line up for this special event, but all declare it is worth the wait. The Christmas Village is located at 150 Church Street in Torrington. It will be open daily from December 8 to 23 from 1 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Entrance is free. For information, check www.torringtonct.org
Santa and his reindeer do
get around in December. Over in Fairfield County, the 5th Annual Greenwich
Reindeer Festival & Santa's Workshop will be on from November 29 to
December 24 at McArdle's Florist & Garden Center, 48 Arch Street in
Greenwich. Santa and his reindeer, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and Blitzen, arrive
on November 29 at 2 p.m., riding down Greenwich Avenue to the Garden Center
where refreshments are served to welcome the start of the festival. They remain
for all to enjoy through Christmas eve. Feeding times for the reindeer are 9
a.m. and 4 p.m. daily. For more information, see www.greenwichreindeerfestival.com
For more information about holiday
activities and a free copy of UNWIND, a full-color, 152-page booklet detailing
what to do and see, and where to stay, shop and dine in Fairfield and
Litchfield Counties in Western Connecticut, contact the Western Connecticut
Visitors Bureau, PO Box 968, Litchfield, CT 06759, (860) 567-45606, or visit
their web site at www.visitwesternct.com
No comments:
Post a Comment