{"id":10174,"date":"2014-12-09T06:08:54","date_gmt":"2014-12-09T13:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.familyfuncalgary.com\/?p=10174"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:42:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T17:42:56","slug":"christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>December 2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Coming from a city that suffered a snowstorm in September, calling a December festival \u201cWinterstart\u201d might seem a little disingenuous.\u00a0 However, going by the blizzard during the kickoff weekend of the Banff-Lake Louise Winterstart Festival on November 29<sup>th<\/sup>, 2014, we think it\u2019s fair to say winter is well and truly here. And since we are going to be facing Old Man Winter for a while, why not make the best of it, Rocky Mountain Style?<\/p>\n<p>The Winterstart in Banff\u00a0 runs until the winter solstice and official start of winter on December 21<sup>st<\/sup>, with something fun going on every weekend! The kickoff party featured bonfires, ice carving, festive crafts and hot chocolate for grateful revellers.<\/p>\n<p>There was magic and whimsy amidst the hustle and bustle on Banff Avenue December 6<sup>th<\/sup> with fun at the Cascade Mall shops with face painting, balloon twisting, carnival games, followed by the main event: The Santa Claus Parade of Light, with lots of promises of all the excitement to come!<\/p>\n<p>In the coming weeks, the festival has plenty in store. Winterstart has been revamped this year with a strong \u201cfestival\u201d feel that will appeal to families and as well as the child-free. Under the banners of : <a href=\"http:\/\/www.banfflakelouise.com\/Area-Events\/Festivals\/Winter\/Winterstart-Festival\/Taste-the-Season\">Taste the Season<\/a> ,\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.banfflakelouise.com\/Area-Events\/Festivals\/Winter\/Winterstart-Festival\/Warm-Cozy\">Warm &amp; Cozy<\/a>,\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.banfflakelouise.com\/Area-Events\/Festivals\/Winter\/Winterstart-Festival\/Holiday-Happenin-s-Shopping\">Holiday Happenin\u2019s + Shopping<\/a>,\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.banfflakelouise.com\/Area-Events\/Festivals\/Winter\/Winterstart-Festival\/Nightlife-Live-Music\">Nightlife + Live Music<\/a>,\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.banfflakelouise.com\/Area-Events\/Festivals\/Winter\/Winterstart-Festival\/World-Cup-Racing\">World Cup Racing<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.banfflakelouise.com\/Area-Events\/Festivals\/Winter\/Winterstart-Festival\/Winter-Wonderland\">Winter Wonderland<\/a>, the snow-bunnies and the sworn urbanites will both find something to suit.\u00a0 Slap on some crampons and try the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.banfflakelouise.com\/Things-To-Do\/Summer-Adventures\/Sightseeing-Tours\/Guided-Sightseeing-Tours\/Banff-Top-Tours\/Johnson-Canyon-Ice-Walk\">Johnson Canyon Ice Walk<\/a> for something cool and different, or stick close to town and explore the shops and restaurants\u2026.either way, you won\u2019t be disappointed!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 2014 Coming from a city that suffered a snowstorm in September, calling a December festival \u201cWinterstart\u201d might seem a little disingenuous.\u00a0 However, going by the blizzard during the kickoff weekend of the Banff-Lake Louise Winterstart Festival on November 29th, 2014, we think it\u2019s fair to say winter is well<br \/><strong style=\"margin-top: 20px; display: block;\"><a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/\">Continue Reading &raquo;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":16,"featured_media":18143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-reviews","cat-49-id","has_thumb"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff | Family Fun Calgary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If we are going to be facing Old Man Winter for a while, why not make the best of it, Rocky Mountain Style at the Winterstart Festival in Banff?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff | Family Fun Calgary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If we are going to be facing Old Man Winter for a while, why not make the best of it, Rocky Mountain Style at the Winterstart Festival in Banff?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Family Fun Calgary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/familyfuncalgary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-09T13:08:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T17:42:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/files\/2015\/08\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"413\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melissa Vroon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@familyfunyyc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@familyfunyyc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melissa Vroon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melissa Vroon\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/64dc22e31254c5a6ddd2a8fdbae36642\"},\"headline\":\"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-09T13:08:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-22T17:42:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":274,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News &amp; Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/\",\"name\":\"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff | Family Fun Calgary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-09T13:08:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-22T17:42:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/64dc22e31254c5a6ddd2a8fdbae36642\"},\"description\":\"If we are going to be facing Old Man Winter for a while, why not make the best of it, Rocky Mountain Style at the Winterstart Festival in Banff?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg\",\"width\":550,\"height\":413},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/\",\"name\":\"Family Fun Calgary\",\"description\":\"Your source for the best family friendly events and activities\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/64dc22e31254c5a6ddd2a8fdbae36642\",\"name\":\"Melissa Vroon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d0cf63f7690b6bd0023a4bfe4f55725698d99d9014f0874ddf1192b6fd63505?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d0cf63f7690b6bd0023a4bfe4f55725698d99d9014f0874ddf1192b6fd63505?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d0cf63f7690b6bd0023a4bfe4f55725698d99d9014f0874ddf1192b6fd63505?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melissa Vroon\"},\"description\":\"Melissa is a co-founder of Family Fun Canada. She loves taking her kids to all the places she visited as a kid and sharing her adventures online.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.familyfuncanada.com\\\/calgary\\\/author\\\/melissavroon\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff | Family Fun Calgary","description":"If we are going to be facing Old Man Winter for a while, why not make the best of it, Rocky Mountain Style at the Winterstart Festival in Banff?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff | Family Fun Calgary","og_description":"If we are going to be facing Old Man Winter for a while, why not make the best of it, Rocky Mountain Style at the Winterstart Festival in Banff?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/","og_site_name":"Family Fun Calgary","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/familyfuncalgary","article_published_time":"2014-12-09T13:08:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-22T17:42:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":550,"height":413,"url":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/files\/2015\/08\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Melissa Vroon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@familyfunyyc","twitter_site":"@familyfunyyc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melissa Vroon","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/"},"author":{"name":"Melissa Vroon","@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/#\/schema\/person\/64dc22e31254c5a6ddd2a8fdbae36642"},"headline":"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff","datePublished":"2014-12-09T13:08:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-22T17:42:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/"},"wordCount":274,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/files\/2015\/08\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg","articleSection":["News &amp; Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/","url":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/","name":"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff | Family Fun Calgary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/files\/2015\/08\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg","datePublished":"2014-12-09T13:08:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-22T17:42:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/#\/schema\/person\/64dc22e31254c5a6ddd2a8fdbae36642"},"description":"If we are going to be facing Old Man Winter for a while, why not make the best of it, Rocky Mountain Style at the Winterstart Festival in Banff?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/files\/2015\/08\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/files\/2015\/08\/Winterstart-Festival-wagon-rides.jpg","width":550,"height":413},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/christmas-fun-winterstart-festival-banff\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Christmas Fun at Winterstart Festival in Banff"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/","name":"Family Fun Calgary","description":"Your source for the best family friendly events and activities","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/#\/schema\/person\/64dc22e31254c5a6ddd2a8fdbae36642","name":"Melissa Vroon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d0cf63f7690b6bd0023a4bfe4f55725698d99d9014f0874ddf1192b6fd63505?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d0cf63f7690b6bd0023a4bfe4f55725698d99d9014f0874ddf1192b6fd63505?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d0cf63f7690b6bd0023a4bfe4f55725698d99d9014f0874ddf1192b6fd63505?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melissa Vroon"},"description":"Melissa is a co-founder of Family Fun Canada. She loves taking her kids to all the places she visited as a kid and sharing her adventures online.","url":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/author\/melissavroon\/"}]}},"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10174"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362066,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10174\/revisions\/362066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/calgary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}