Surrey Tree Lighting Festival Adds Free Skating

The skating is the part to plan around

The rink sits in the Santa's Workshop and Ice Rink tent on the plaza. Sessions last 40 minutes and start on the hour from noon to 7pm. Skates and rentals cost nothing, or you can bring your own skates and helmet. The catch is the wristband: free timeslots are handed out first come, first served at the Skate Kiosk, one per person, and only the next three sessions are ever available. Collect yours when you arrive, then come back to the kiosk 30 minutes before your slot.

That gap is useful. Use it for a lap of the holiday market, where the festival lists vendors such as YVR Cookie and Moonlight Wolf, which sells Indigenous jewellery. The rink also stays up after the weekend for the city's winter skating at Civic Plaza, so it is worth knowing about for later dates too.

Music and food

The festival has posted a long performer list. On Saturday it highlights the Good Noise Gospel Choir, The Mighty Chorus and the vintage rock and roll of Down n' Dirty, and on Sunday the Big Bone Brass Band. Set times and the exact moment the tree lights up were not on the site on November 3, so check again the week of the festival if you want to catch either.

Food is in the Enchanted Eats zone, with trucks including Mom's Grilled Cheese, Taco Nori, Reel Mac and Cheese and Little oOties Mini Donuts, and Insomniacs Coffee for something hot. The festival does not list a beer or wine area.

How we would plan it

Come on Saturday afternoon, around 3pm. Take the SkyTrain to Surrey Central, which is right beside the plaza, grab skating wristbands first, then eat and browse until your session. Skate as the sky gets dark and the lights take over. For a drink afterward, Dominion Bar and Kitchen in the Civic Hotel is a few steps away, or walk a few minutes down King George Boulevard for suya and jollof at VanSuya.