Noel Christmas is keeping the Christmas spirit alive for Calgary and area residents.
“We try to get the best elements of Christmas and put them together in one place, under one roof with heat, and protected from the elements,” said the Noel Christmas Co-Founder, and Managing Director, Jonathan Houweling.
“The best elements of Christmas are Christmas lights, food, music, entertainment and gathering together,” he said.
Noel Christmas began in 2019, and over 70 thousand people visited the festival throughout 35 days.
“A lot of that has changed this year. The biggest thing from day one was the safety protocols that we had to put into place,” Houweling said.
The entire layout of Noel Christmas had to be redesigned and made into a one-directional pathway to ensure visitors are not passing each other.
Houweling has also been working with Alberta Health Services (AHS) to ensure any COVID-19 exposure points are minimized, having sanitization spots at the right spots, and the best ways to limit capacity and control crowds.
“We started in May, and we haven’t stopped. We’ve had to make a lot of adjustments, even as recent as the major adjustment,” Houweling said.
Noel Christmas has to be in compliance with all retail space regulations in Alberta, with a 15 per cent capacity as mandated by the province.
“The layout is the first thing people will notice is different, the amount of signage, and sanitization stations,” Houweling said.
“We can’t have any singing this year. We do have a beautiful piano, we’re just not allowed to sing while we’re playing it, and we have excellent food options, but for take-out only,” he said.
Despite the changes to Noel Christmas, visitors can still expect vendors selling locally made goods throughout the facility, and Christmas lights and décor scattered everywhere rather than in a designated light park.
Houweling has received feedback from some Calgarians wondering why Noel Christmas was allowed to remain open.
“We go back to the economic benefits, and the benefits of just the emotional part that Calgarians need this Christmas,” Houweling said.
“None of our team would put this event on if we didn’t feel completely safe doing so. I feel 100 per cent comfortable with everything that we have in space,” he said.
For Houweling and the Noel Christmas team, it was important to continue the event to support local vendors and give families a sense of hope.
“The number of stories we’ve heard of people suffering and having such a difficult time this year, Noel Christmas gives people hope,” Houweling said.
“Even though they can’t attend with their entire extended family, they can still have a Christmas spirit. There’s a Christmas spirit here, and despite all of the changes we’ve had to do, and the restrictions taking away certain elements of the festival, the Christmas spirit is still there,” he said.
For more information on Noel Christmas please visit, https://noelchristmas.ca/.
