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Throughout the month of December, visitors to Ogden, Utah's Christmas Village can find themselves in a dazzling winter wonderland set aglow with Christmas lights in a unique setting of cottages modeled after Santa's village at the North Pole. This year, Ogden's Christmas Village is celebrating its 60th year as the "must-see" holiday attraction in northern Utah.
Large windows on each cottage extend low enough to the ground that even the smallest of elves or children can peer at the colorful magic within without mom or dad having to be constantly picking them up for a peek.
The community will be kicking off the holiday season this year on Saturday, November 26th with the Electric Light Parade and the ceremonial lighting of Christmas Village.
The parade will be full of elaborate floats and fantastic performers around this year's theme, "Shine Bright." Santa always plans his arrival in Ogden for this day. He comes in on the last float of the parade and when he reaches the Municipal Gardens, he flips the magic switch to turn on the lights and illuminate all of Christmas Village. Parade floats are on display along 25th Street through the night, live entertainment is featured in the amphitheater, and the opening ceremony wraps up with a spectacular fireworks show. It's the official kickoff to a month-long celebration of all the magic of the holidays.
Even if you can't make it to the opening-night spectacle, Christmas Village's awe-inspiring display of hundreds of thousands of lights and more than 50 cottages is free and open to the public and illuminated from 5 p.m. to midnight every night through January 1. Hidden in each cottage is a diamond ornament. See how many you can find!
Free visits with Santa are available Monday through Friday, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 5:00 to 9:00 through December 23rd. After that, he has to get back to the North Pole to load his sleigh.
Santa's reindeer will be visiting Christmas Village on December 16th and 17th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Performances by school choirs and other performing groups are scheduled every evening, Monday through Saturday (November 29th through December 22nd) on the Ogden Amphitheater stage.
Warm up with a delicious hot cocoa available on site, or stroll to any of the dozens of nearby, locally owned restaurants, galleries, coffee houses, shops, and bars.
