The Regina Downtown Business Improvement District (RDBID) is hosting its first-ever virtual holiday festival starting Monday.

Manager of Marketing and Communications, Dominika Deneve says the festival will give people a new way to get some holiday cheer.

“It is a great way to get into the holiday spirit, and safely enjoy some holiday events despite the challenges we’ve all been facing this year with COVID-19 and also with restrictions,” said Deneve.

The week-long event will feature several virtual events including live music performances from venues around the city, and the popular Christmas tree lighting.

Deneve says it was important for RDBID to still do something for the festival, in light of pandemic restrictions.

“We decided this year, because of everything everyone is having to deal with, and the challenges, that we wanted to give something special to people that continue to support our downtown community,” said Deneve. “We were like ‘what else could we do this year that would still create some holiday spirit and get people thinking holiday season?’ that’s where this idea came from. It’s been a really quick turnaround for us, and we have a lot of good stuff coming out, so we’re really excited to share this with everyone.”

Deneve adds that she knows the Christmas Lighting event is usually very popular, but this year, she is encouraging everyone to not come see it in person.

“This year we’re going to be doing this over live stream on Facebook, not encouraging anyone to come down, we ask you to please stay home and watch this on Facebook through our livestream

For more information, and an event schedule, check out Regina Downtown’s website.