Lowe's Toronto Christmas Market at The Distillery District, Toronto

Gord and I went to the Lowe's Toronto Christmas Market at the Distillery District this afternoon.

This holiday season Toronto will once again celebrate the romance and magic of a traditional Christmas at Lowe's Toronto Christmas Market. Inspired by the Old World and influenced by the New, this free annual event captures all of the tradition, heritage and charm of a European Christmas Market, while showcasing hundreds of unique and local handcrafted products. Family friendly entertainment includes musicians, carolers and children's choirs, holiday themed stage presentations, Rudolph's Reindeer Zoo and of course … Santa and his roaming elves! There is great shopping, specialty beer and mulled wine gardens, sweets and treats, and all the great restaurants of The Distillery Historic District. Come and experience the fun and magic of Toronto's first and only Christmas Market!

A Christmas market is a street market which celebrates the traditional sights, sounds and scents of Christmas and is staged during the weeks leading up to Christmas. These markets originated in Germany, beginning in the early 1400's, and are now being held in countries all over the world.

We'd gone last year and had a good time.

We ran into my pal, Shawna, and her friend, Rebecca.

There is something for everyone. Shopping ...

A giant Christmas tree ...

I only saw two people brave enough to go on the ferris wheel.

Smaller kids liked the carousel.

Kids were entertained by an angel telling stories.

This group playing holidays songs with bells was cool.

The temperature was at the freezing level so we checked out the Warmer Lounge.

They were giving out free samples of Polish beer (it was good).

We had some mulled wine which warmed our insides. Cheers!

The Warming Lounge was a popular spot.

We wandered down Santa's Lane.

There was lots to buy including chocolate covered bacon.

We passed on it but this guy said it was good.

And these kids seemed to enjoy it.

We headed to the beer garden.

These guys were good. They had to stop between songs to warm up their fingers. Brrrr!

The beer garden was a popular spot.

Here are Gord and I ... no fear of our beer getting warm! Brrrr!

We were there for a couple hours and had fun walking around. Last year we spent a lot more time but I found this year it was too crowded and it seemed to be more family-oriented.