Rutland's Winter Light Up

After some overnight snow, and a largely clear afternoon, it was the perfect setting for Rutland’s annual Winter Light Up event.

The festivities returned to Rutland Centennial Park.

Christina Ferreira, owner of Impact Events, told Kelowna10 this year’s event brings much more to the community after an uncertain year.

“When we did this event last year, we were still heavily in pandemic mode and we built this event in just a couple of weeks last year because we weren’t sure [if it would happen],” she said. “We just had a few vendors, and it was much smaller. This year we were able to expand, we got much more engagement of different vendors and more entertainment.”

The fun included live music of holiday classics, opportunities to Christmas shop, write letters to Santa, and even see the man himself for pictures.

Ferreira said she’s very pleased to see the community come together and just enjoy the Christmas spirit.

“For the community it’s fun, it lets you get out and enjoy a nice Sunday afternoon in our city, gets us out of the house,” she said. “For us as an organization we want to give back to the community and this is one way of doing it.”

The finale came at 4:30 p.m. with the lighting of the big Christmas tree which will remain lit up throughout the holiday season. It signals to passing pedestrians and motorists along Rutland Road that the area is fully embracing the festive season.