The crunch of snow underfoot and the gentle nip of winter air are the first signs that Thunder Bay is ready for the festive season. As the sun sets, holiday lights flicker on, casting a warm glow that dances playfully along the frosty streets. Call it what you want, Christmas or the holidays, but something magical shifts in Thunder Bay this time of year. Lights glow a little warmer, snow falls a little softer, and suddenly the city feels ready to gather again.
Last Sunday, my family and I sat in the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, taking in the unmistakable warmth of a Johnny Reid Christmas show. He doesn’t just perform; he connects. When he leaned into the microphone and declared, “It’s Merry Christmas!” the entire room felt it. There’s power in sharing a moment like that with hundreds of people, in letting the season settle on your shoulders through a song. It’s precisely this kind of shared warmth and community spirit that makes attending upcoming shows a chance to create lasting memories and become part of something truly special.
Sitting there, I began to think back to the Christmas traditions of my own childhood. December was a season filled with performances, not because we sought them out, but because they were simply part of how the community celebrated. The Christmas party at my father’s workplace always featured performers for children: magicians pulling cards from top hats, puppeteers with characters dancing on portable stages, and live musicians playing and singing songs that still linger in memory. In those moments, the air was filled with the sweet aroma of hot chocolate and oranges, mingling with the laughter of children and the subtle squeak of folding chairs as we all leaned forward in anticipation. These weren’t elaborate events, but to a child, they were pure magic. They planted the idea that Christmas wasn’t just about gifts, it was about gathering, storytelling, and the wonder that happens when people come together to create a little seasonal light.
I also remember going to the Fort William Rotary Christmas Carol Sing as a youth. It was always on a cold December night, the kind where snow drifted across the streetlights as if falling in slow motion. Inside the church, the warmth from the crowd was immediate. With voices rising together, the space transformed. The power didn’t come from perfect harmony; it came from shared joy, from the way a room full of neighbours could lift a roof with nothing more than familiar carols. If you’ve never been, the tradition continues this year on December 14, 2025, and you can relive that same feeling as the community gathers again to sing for the Christmas Cheer Fund. Each note you sing contributes to a ripple effect, directly supporting our neighbours in need and spreading holiday cheer well beyond the church walls. If you want to start your day off earlier with joyful carols, join the Dulcisono Choir, which has a festive matinee concert also that day.
And then there was the year I stepped out of the audience entirely. As a child, I played Tiny Tim in the old Actors Repertory Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol. I can still remember the feeling of waiting in the wings, listening for my cue, holding onto that iconic line — “God bless us, everyone.” Being part of a Christmas show is its own kind of gift. You’re helping tell a story that has lived for generations, and in doing so, you discover just how much Christmas is about passing traditions forward.
This year, you can experience that same kind of theatre magic again — not through my story, but through your own. Magnus Theatre is offering Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some), a wonderfully chaotic and heartfelt celebration of all the festive tales we’ve grown up with. And Cambrian Players will keep the storytelling spirit alive with a play reading of A Christmas Carol, offering audiences the chance to sit back, listen, and let Dickens’ timeless story echo through the room just as it did for me years ago.
If music is what stirs your memory, Thunder Bay has you covered there too. The Tenors are bringing their Joy to the World Tour to the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium on December 12, 2025 — a night of soaring harmonies and holiday warmth that recalls the feeling of those childhood performers who first made me fall in love with live entertainment. And the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra will once again fill the hall with tradition and grandeur during their Holiday POPS concert on December 20. There is nothing quite like hearing a full symphony perform seasonal classics — it’s the kind of experience that anchors a holiday season, something you carry with you long after the final note fades.
It’s funny how the performances we attend, or take part in, stay with us. A magician at a company party. A children’s recital in a gymnasium. A chorus of voices in a church. A line spoken on a stage. All these moments become part of our personal Christmas stories, just like the glow of holiday lights that cast warmth along frosty streets, tying together those small wonders into lifelong memories. And every year, Thunder Bay offers new memories waiting to be made. You can bring your family, your friends, or simply yourself, and take in that feeling again, the sense of being inside the story.
Because Christmas, at its heart, has always been about storytelling. About gathering. About passing something meaningful from one generation to the next. Whether it’s told through a symphony, a play, a carol sing, or a child stepping out under the lights for the first time, the message is the same: we share this season with each other. As you gather with loved ones, consider this: Which story will your family tell next year? It’s a moment to reflect on the memories we’re creating today, inviting each of us to co-author the traditions that will be cherished in the years to come.
As the snow falls and the lights glow across the city, may this be a year where you find yourself in the audience for something beautiful. Or perhaps a year where someone you love steps onto a stage and becomes part of that beauty themselves.
Merry Christmas, Thunder Bay. May the memories you create this season stay bright all year, bringing warmth to your winter and joy to your heart.
