It’s not that Christmas is over.
But it’s a time to take stock of what you’ve got and what you want to give away, says a Christmas decorator.
Christine McLean is one of Ottawa’s leading Christmas decorators.
She says she has seen it all before, including the original carnival, but this year she’s bringing it to Ottawa.
“It’s not a carnival in this sense.
This is a celebration of the season,” she says.
For years, the theme for the Ottawa Christmas carnival was a carnaval, but last year, the city decided to move it to a Christmas themed event in 2017.
McLean says the change was to get the carnival out of the way and to let the carnaval go on as an important part of the city’s Christmas tradition.
“We wanted to make sure that we were keeping the spirit of the carnivals alive and vibrant, so it was very important to us to have a carnal theme and a carnational theme in this event, as well,” she explains.
The first carnival of its kind in Canada was held in 1888.
It was hosted by the city of Ottawa, and in 1889, it was renamed the Ottawa Children’s Carnival, and the carnallist’s goal was to help raise funds for the children of Ottawa through the carnal.
The children’s carnival would last for a few years, but the theme was changed to “A Christmas Carol.”
It was also renamed the Queen’s Birthday Carnival and was a major event in Ottawa.
McLeod says the Queen has always been an inspiration for Christmas decorations, and she says this year’s theme has something to do with that.
“When we were thinking about what we wanted to give the children, we wanted a Christmas car,” she said.
“It has all the trappings that you expect.
It’s got all the bells, the lights, and everything that you would expect a Christmas vehicle to have.”
And it has a lot of bells, because we are in a country that prides itself on bells and whistles, and bells and trombones, and a lot more bells, and they’re the most important thing to celebrate Christmas.
“There’s something about the car, a Christmas motif, that makes it stand out, McLean says.”
So we wanted something that would make a big statement, something that could be a big showpiece, so we decided that the car should be decorated in a way that would bring it to the masses.
“The car’s design is a nod to the Queen.
The inside of the car is decorated with festive tree branches, while on the outside are festive lights that light up the car.
Mclean says the car’s theme also reflects the Queen, who was a big fan of the Carnival.”
She had a large carnival car, and we wanted the car to be decorated to bring it out to the people that are coming to it, to bring them out and see the car in its own light,” she explained.
McGlone says the Christmas car was one of her favourites from the carnalling, and it’s still one of the most popular.”
They’re still coming out to them and giving them lots of gifts, and to the crowds that are out there,” she added.”
If you see the cars in the carnals, it’s one of those things that you feel that you’re in the middle of something special.
And you know that it’s Christmas.
“You can find more Christmas decorations from Ottawa at our Ottawa Christmas page.
