Winter Wander-Land to return with holiday favourites and new programming

Get ready to get on board! The Winter Wander-Land Polar Express train ride, pictured here during 2024’s festivities, will return to take passengers around Stratford City Hall this November.

The unofficial kick off to the winter holiday season will return the last weekend of November, with lots of beloved programming returning.

Winter Wander-Land will take place across Downtown Stratford on Nov. 29 and 30. The event run by the Downtown Stratford Business Improvement Association (BIA) will bring back firepits with free Rice Krispie treats to roast, wandering carolers, the Polar Express train ride, food trucks, an outdoor market and, of course, Santa Claus.

“Winter Wander-Land is going to be ‘Wander-ful.’ We have all kinds of stuff going on,” said Jamie Pritchard, general manager of the Downtown Stratford BIA.

The Polar Express train rides, sponsored by On Stage Dance Studio, will once again travel around Stratford City Hall. This year, the train will include a new cart accessible for those requiring mobility devices like wheelchairs. The firepits will be in Market Square and York Street, as well as B and C Custom Landscaping’s Christmas Tree farms. The Downtown Stratford BIA also has the “Take a Selfie with an Elfie” contest where passersby can take selfies with Christmas elves roaming around downtown for a chance to win a prize.

Guided tours and wagon rides will start at Memorial Gardens, with Lauri Leduc of Stratford Walking Tours. DJ Ethan Maac will spin both traditional and non-traditional Christmas tunes. The evening of Nov. 29, a Saturday, will have live music by Retro Resonance on York Street from 5-8 p.m. as well as hot food from the Boathouse, a drink from the Stratford Al Fresco bar and dancing for an event geared towards adults.

“We can get people in the Christmas spirit, get people downtown and it's really just saying thanks to everybody who can come, thanks to all the folks of Stratford because all year, throughout the spring, summer and fall, there's a lot of people that cater to the tourists. This is really for the people of Stratford,” Pritchard said. “Thanks, from downtown. Come on out with your family, have some fun."

More information can be found online by visiting https://downtownstratford.ca/winter-wander-land.