Santa Claus is coming to town, but he’ll be nestled inside a giant outdoor “snow globe.”
Muskoka Heritage Place (MHP) kicks off its Snow Globe Santa event this weekend, which features classic Christmas characters and standbys inside the Eclipse Walk With Light installation.
“There’ll be Mrs. Claus, we’ll have carolers, recorded Christmas music as well,” says Ron Goslin, Manager of MHP. “Santa will be set up in the snow globe itself, and there will be the opportunity for kids to give him their side of the story. It’ll be an absolutely fabulous photo opportunity in that snow globe with the lights shooting up into the trees.”
In addition to the big red man, a certain green holiday miser will also be present.
“The Grinch is going to be on hand to try to discourage everyone from having Christmas, cause that’s what The Grinch does,” says Gostlin.
The event comes as a replacement for MHP’s usual Christmas event, which was cancelled because of COVID-19.
“We were unable to do our Portage Flyer Christmas this year, so we’re really disappointed about that,” says Gostlin. “But you’ve got to work with the environment you have and we were lucky enough to have Eclipse Walk with Light right in our backyard.”
Masks will be required indoors, as well as outdoors where social distancing is not possible, and the main entrance of Muskoka Pioneer Village will be opened alongside the The Rotary Village Train Station to help manage the flow of people.
“There are some protocols in place, but we’re making it as non-intrusive as possible like we did with our regular operation in the summer,” says Gostlin. “Kids will be seated by Santa Claus, not on his knee. The photo opportunity and the opportunity to talk to Santa will still be there, just not as close as we would like or everyone else would like.”
Gostlin says online reservations are required, and admission is free with the purchase of an Eclipse Walk ticket.
Canvas Brewing Co. and Beaver Tails will also be on site selling food and drinks.
Goslin also recommends bringing weather-appropriate clothing and footwear, and asks attendees to leave their pets at home. Snow Globe Santa runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Dec. 10, 11, 17, and 18.