Kawartha Settlers Village is glistening with Christmas spirit for the 20th Annual Kawartha Lakes Festival of Trees in Bobcaygeon, Ont.
The four-day event runs from Thursday through Sunday and allows visitors to stroll through the village and explore buildings decorated in holiday style for the official kick-off to the holiday season.
Admission is $10 for adults, and free for children under 12 years old and families can come and go as they please all weekend long.
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Over the course of the weekend, the festival will see reindeer pay a visit on Saturday, wagon rides and kids activities will take place on both Saturday and Sunday and a live auction will be held on Saturday night at the main building, the Murphy Barn.
One of the most popular draws each year is the child-only shop. Debora Slingsby, who is the lead elf, helps run the shop and collects information from children including who they would like to shop for and how much they wish to spend.
“And then I pass the paper and the child with a nice new bag that we’ve got for Settlers Village and they go to the back room, then the elf there will help them decide on their gifts,” said Slingsby.
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All the money raised from the festival goes towards operating the village and keeping the historic homes and buildings in top shape.
“It’s situated on three acres. We have 22 buildings that have either moved here or have been replicated of buildings of around the area. We mostly are agricultural artifacts,” said Lytle.
When the festival wraps up, volunteers will contact all the raffle winners.
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Last year the festival saw over 3,000 guests and volunteers hope to see more young families attend this year.