For nearly two decades Mahone Bay has spent the month before Christmas as a seaside Christmas village: Main Street strung with lights and balsam-fir boughs, the three churches lit across the harbour, and a run of small-town events from the last Friday of November through Christmas Eve.
On the calendar: the Reindeer Fun Run (an evening 3 km on a closed course, 400-plus runners in antlers), the "Christmas at Hogwarts" display built by Bayview Community School volunteers, the Christmas Card Corner photo backdrop, a nightly Elf on the Shelf hunt along the shops, festive menus in the restaurants and a Wish List shopping promotion. The Mahone Bay Museum keeps weekend hours through the season. Run by Festivals of Mahone Bay, a volunteer non-profit; about an hour's drive from Halifax on Hwy 103, and rooms book up early.
Full schedule: mahonebay.com.
