Out & About #164 | Downtown Brampton Christmas Market 2015

Participating in a festive night market is unarguably the quickest way to ease into the Christmas spirit, which is exactly what we set out to do.

After a stop at McDonald's for dinner, that is. Behold our Happy Meals and The Peanuts Movie toys!

The popular Charlie Brown and Snoopy Bobblehead and Spinning Snoopy variations were out of stock at this location, but luckily, there were still other Snoopy options available.

We headed towards the Main St. and Queen St. intersection afterwards to catch some of the action.

The crowds were enormous! Many of the market-goers were young families or small groups of teenagers; the area flooded with as many colourful lights as eager participants of the zero-admission event.

There was even a merry-go-round!

In addition to the ride attraction had been situated in the centre of area, a small bonfire was also kept alit for the toasting of marshmallows on a stick. From time to time, supervising individuals sporting orange reflective vests would add firewood to the pit to allow the flames to maintain their flickering energy.
Lining the perimeter of the area were also several vendor booths, offering up locally-produced lip products, homemade jams, furs, and more.

View the full album HERE !

After gathering as many shots of the interesting lighting fixtures as we possibly could, we concluded our vendor tour at a booth by the name of T by Daniel - a tea vendor that was handing out dairy-free samples of their most popular drink, the Lion Chai.

Uncommonly a fan of the strong, unnecessarily spicy flavours of regular Chai Lattes from Starbucks (heck, those are the only drinks I wasn't able to finish even half of!), but I was instantly sold on the Lion Chai. Perhaps it was the creamy coconut creamer that they had described the steamy beverage to contain, or maybe the fact that the drink resembled a velvety smooth, hearty version of hot chocolate.

T by Daniel's physical store was just seconds from the vendor booth, so we headed over to check it out. But of course, we weren't the only ones.

A snake-like lineup coiled and twisted within the insides of the small shop - quite the indicator of the tea shop's popularity. Undeterred, we joined the lineup, which brought us to the cashier after a mere fifteen-minute wait.

Despite wanting to opt for the "Buy 100 g of tea, and receive a Lion Chai free" deal, we were unfortunately told that the Lion Chai blend was the only variety of bulk tea not included in the promotion. We chose to go with two takeaway cups of the warm beverage instead.

Each cup was priced at a very reasonable $3.50 (a cup as large as this would have easily cost $6 downtown!), the cups were decorated in a simple yet delightful navy-and-white-red-polka-dot-bow-tie scheme, and our names had even been written on the bottom rims with creative references.

The lineup gradually dispersed, and we took to the enjoying the Lion Chais in their seating area towards the back of shop until closing time.

By the time we had exited the shop, the market festivities had long ended for the night, leaving behind a now dimly-lit skeleton of its once-fully-occupied venue.

Quite frankly, I enjoyed the night stroll even more because of this. As the families had returned home to tuck their children into bed, it meant that I would finally be able to capture photos void of unforeseen pedestrian cameos.

Marching towards City Hall, several colourfully-decorated trees came into view, along with their lofty, equally ornate main feature - the Christmas tree.

The night was concluded with a couple (first) attempts at light painting, which, admittedly, is much more challenging to master that it seems.

The slightly chilly weather and  lively atmosphere had made my first excursion to downtown Brampton to an absolutely pleasurable evening activity, as well as a great introduction to the Christmas season. (The only factor lacking was a gentle snowfall.)

Ultimately, my camera ran out of battery and refused to function for long exposure shots, leading to our prompt return to the car.  
We were now homebound, with our now-lukewarm T by Daniel's cups in hand and K-Pop softly playing in the background.

---