The holiday season is right around the corner, and families are invited to help us celebrate the magic in the air at the annual Children鈥檚 Christmas Party on Dec. 7, at the Native Sons Hall.

Courtenay Recreation staff are as busy as Santa鈥檚 elves preparing for this year鈥檚 party, which will be packed with festive fun, joyful activities and a special visit from Santa Claus himself. The celebrations kick off at 11:00 a.m. and run until 1:00 p.m. and are for children nine years and under accompanied by an adult.

鈥淲e鈥檙e expecting a magical event this year, including a very special guest from the North Pole,鈥� says Roberta Churchill, Early Years Programming and Preschool Supervisor for Courtenay Recreation. 鈥淲e ask guests to please bring a camera if they鈥檇 like to get their photos with Santa.鈥�

Other activities throughout the event include a Christmas sing-a-long, a special ukulele performance by the Evergreen Seniors, crafts, games and letter-making to Santa.

Party-goers can also head across the parking lot to the Florence Filberg Centre to check out the Gnarly Little Christmas Craft Fair, which will be running 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the upstairs Conference Room. The annual craft fair showcases talented youth aged nine to 19 years. Over 60 vendors will be selling their wares this year, including baking, art, crafts, fibre arts, jewellery, woodwork and more.

Admission to both the party and craft fair is free with a non-perishable donation to the food bank.

The Native Sons Hall is located at 360 Cliffe Ave, Courtenay. For more information, please call Courtenay Recreation at 250-338-5371 or 250-338-1000, or visit