Monday 28 November 2022

Winterfest at Canada's Wonderland - November 26th, 2022

On Saturday, November 26th I kicked off the Christmas season with a visit to Winterfest at Canada's Wonderland! It was fun hanging out with a couple of my co-workers and their significant others, while taking in all the lights, sights, and rides that the event offered throughout the evening! Winterfest had greatly expanded since my first visit back in November 2019. The park did a spectacular job!

Be sure to get into the Christmas spirit yourself by checking out photos from my visit to Winterfest!

My visit to Winterfest started just before 3pm.

It was a beautiful and mild November afternoon, which almost made it feel like an early Springtime visit to the park!

Despite the weather being somewhat mild, Snowflake Lake skating rink was being enjoyed by many park visitors.

It is really neat how they transform the Royal Fountain into Snowflake Lake every year for Winterfest. 

International Street becomes a magical place with Christmas Decorations placed on all the buildings!

The giant toy trucks in Grande World Exposition of 1890 were a nice touch!

Winterfest is an event that mostly focuses on lights, shows, and food. But having some rides open, including Psyclone and Sledge Hammer (new for Winterfest this year!) were a nice bonus! It felt a bit odd riding Psyclone and Sledge Hammer in late-November.

Renaming Coasters Drive-In, Frosty's Drive-In was a great way on tying it in with the winter theme.

International Festival had a array of lights.

Medieval Faire had transformed into Elf Village for Winterfest.

Many of the shops on International Street have been renamed for Winterfest.

Snowflake Lake is very picturesque.

Cool Yule Christmas show was in Acton Zone. it attracted quite a crowd throughout the evening.

The lights strung all along International Street were just beautiful!

There are many photo opportunities to be had!

Before watching the Tree Lighting Ceremony on International Street at 5:30pm, we checked out the Christmas Market vendors in the Courtyard Catering Facility area.

There were many lights strung in the bushes around the exterior of the two Christmas Market buildings!

The light up deer on International Street were shining very bright! Too bad the snow had disappeared a few days before...

At 5:30pm, we took in the Tree Lighting Ceremony.

It is a performance of Christmas song and dance combined with a spectacular array of lights! 

The performers were great at getting the crowd into the Christmas spirit!

After a special guest family helped with the countdown, the two tall Christmas trees on International Street were illuminated!

Then the performers broke out into more song and dancing!

The Tree Lighting Ceremony was a bit different this year than the one I had witnessed back in 2019.

It was nice to see the performance freshened up a bit! It was also good to see that they kept Three Dog Night's Joy to the World in the lineup. It makes the performance a bit humourous as it is not really a Christmas song, but is of the same name of Christmas song Joy to the World that is often heard this time of year!

You can tell that the performers were having a great time!

The trees are absolutely stunning!

After the ceremony, International Street was quite bottlenecked.

Nothing is left untouched for Winterfest. I just love the details!

Wilde Knight Mares was spinning fast, providing somewhat chilling and thrilling rides!

Viking's Rage was also there for attendees to enjoy!

Planet Snoopy and Kidzville, known as Candy Cane Lane looked just as spectacular as it did three years ago!

The number of lights at Winterfest is just stunning!

Definitely a lot of lights to take in!

The giant wreath on the Roadside Chicken building in Frontier Canada was very nice looking!

The red trees across the way were very vibrant.

The Northern Starlight light tunnel in Action Zone was really cool.

It features many different colours and patterns of lights.

Psyclone was swinging high above the beautiful Christmas lights below!

Antique Carousel was hidden behind a forest of twinkling lights!

This was a great way to make use of the fountains near Antique Carousel in the colder weather.

Swing of the Century always looks in season with its white and green lights that flashed as it operates under darkness.

I just love the lights in International Festival. They give a nostalgic vibe of Christmases past!

Klockwerks is always a great ride to capture at night!

Many visitors were enjoying the giant light-up present across from Windseeker.

To end our fun night at Winterfest, we all took one final ride on Sledge Hammer!

The light program on that tree is quite mesmerizing!

Here I am before heading out for the night!

Here is another shot of the Antique Carousel surrounded by an array of Christmas lights.

Backlot Cafe is renamed Holiday Dining Hall throughout the duration of Winterfest.

International Street at night during Winterfest is just breathtaking!

If only I could add some of the light fixtures to my Christmas light display at home!


It was great being back at this wonderful event and enjoying it with some great people!

There's my look at Winterfest 2022 at Canada's Wonderland! Have a happy holiday season and see you all at the park again in the Spring! :-)