The Magic of Gastown

When: The 2026 dates have not been announced yet. Last season: December 1 to 31, 2025, with free horse-drawn carriage rides and roaming carollers on December weekends. We will update this page as soon as the organizer confirms.
Where: Gastown streets and shops, Gastown (carriage pickup at 1 Alexander St in 2025), Vancouver
Cost: Free
Official site: <a href="https://gastown.org/holidays/" rel="nofollow noopener ugc" target="_blank">gastown.org

Carriage rides, carollers and holiday shopping in Vancouver's oldest neighbourhood

Event Start Date

December 31, 2025 9:00 am - 9:00 pm

Gallery

Description

Magic of Gastown is the Gastown Business Improvement Society's month-long December celebration in Vancouver's oldest neighbourhood. The cobblestone streets, laneways and the Steam Clock area are strung with lights, and shops display decorated trees in their windows for a self-guided Gastown Tree Walk. In 2025 the program also included free horse-drawn carriage rides on two Sunday afternoons, roaming carolers and holiday performers, a mariachi parade through the neighbourhood's Mexico Barrio, and an Elf Off the Shelf scavenger hunt. For the hunt, clues were posted daily on Instagram (@mygastown) and finders could enter prize draws. Most activities are free, and Sunday parking was free with online registration. Gastown is a short walk from Waterfront Station, so transit is the easiest way in. The 2026 lineup had not been published when this was written. Check gastown.org and @mygastown in late November for this year's dates and carriage-ride days.