Ogden’s Christmas Village: Rockin’ Around since 1962

The Lights Return With A Holiday Electric Parade, Santa Run, and More At The Grand Opening of Ogden’s Christmas Village This Saturday

NEWS

Images provided

Ogden’s Christmas Village will be turning on its lights from Nov. 29 through Jan. 1. The annual Christmas Village consists of light displays, live events, and a holiday parade. 

Ogden's first Christmas Village debuted in 1962. While a holiday parade was a part of the city prior to the village, various business leaders came together and decided to make a more expansive holiday celebration at Municipal Gardens. 

Craig Bielik, the Chairman of the Christmas Village Advisory, said that the Christmas Village is a year-long process. Bielik has been involved with the Christmas Village for nearly 20 years and has been chair for almost seven years. The advisory meets up throughout the year to begin preparation for the holiday season and manage the various cottages that go out on display. They start to hang up the lights for the village shortly after Labor Day weekend. 

Between 55 and 60 cottage displays go out every year, all of which are owned by local businesses. Every season, the Christmas Village Advisory takes on a new theme for the village; this year's theme is “Rockin’ Around the Village”.  

“Mainly, what we want to give is a good gathering place for the community. A place for families to build their own traditions, a place where people can make memories and feel the Christmas spirit,” Bielik said. 

Bielik has a history with the Christmas Village, as it was an event he would attend with his parents as a kid and later one of his earliest dates with his wife. 

The Christmas Village will kick off with a Santa Run, a 5K down Washington Blvd. in which participants dress as Santa Claus, on Nov. 29 at 4:30 p.m. The run is followed up by the Holiday Electric Light Parade, which starts at 5:30 p.m. that same day. Finally, at 6:30 p.m., there is a ceremony in the Ogden Amphitheater where an honorary mayor is presented, as well as Santa Claus and a Make-A-Wish child that the village sponsors.

Bielik said that one of the most important parts of the Christmas Village in the past few years has been making photo opportunities for visitors. One of the main photo attractions this year is a large Christmas present that people will be able to walk inside of to take photos. 

“They can keep photos in their family albums, or post on social media,” Bielik said. 

The village holds a contest every year where a common item is hidden in every cottage throughout the venue. This time, visitors can search for an ornament that looks like a golden platinum record. Bielik said that some of the ornaments will be easier to find and others will be more challenging. 

Bielik’s favorite part of the Christmas Village is walking through every year and hearing the visitors get excited about the displays and lights they have put together. 

“We want Ogden’s Christmas Village to be your village, we want it to be the thing you point at in Ogden as something wonderful,” Bielik said.

The Christmas Village is a free event running from Nov. 29 through Jan. 1, with lights starting at 5 p.m. and going to 10 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday and going to midnight on Friday and Saturday. Lights will be on every day, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s.