It’s that time of year, with the holidays once again upon us, where we get bombarded with shameless advertising for this thing or that, urging us to buy that one product which is apparently so amazing that your life is meaningless without it. When it’s not advertising assaulting us it’s one organization or another looking to collect donations for the needy which they stalwartly represent.
But what happens when you combine the two together? You get shameless advertising for a cause! If you mosey on down to the Empress downtown, you’ll see that the Festival of Trees is once again on. The yearly event allows anyone to walk through the Empress and take a look at trees decorated by local businesses and organizations, and to give donations to vote for their favourite.
- Our writer’s top choice at the Festival of Trees (photo by Patrick Hallihan/Nexus)
Some of the trees are beautifully decorated to a specific theme, and others are decorated to, simply, fit the theme of the business which brought in the tree. Each tree is put together in a firm two-hour time frame, with the end result being what we see on display in the Empress.
It’s a great cause, with all proceeds going towards the BC Children’s Hospital. Last year boasted over 15,000 votes cast for 77 different trees, and $126,000 donated.
My personal two favourite trees this year when I wandered through were the Empress’ own A Nightmare Before Christmas tree and Coast Capital’s Blue Themed Tree. Special mention also goes to the Accounting Themed tree, which has a place close to my heart… because I’m an accounting student.
Festival of Trees
Fairmont Empress
Until January 4