Photo Coca-Cola Santa Tour Saskatchewan 2021 Facebook page.

A popular holiday attraction that returned last year after a long hiatus will be back in Regina this Christmas, and all over Canada for that matter.

The Coca-Cola Holiday Truck will be making various appearances in the Queen City, starting this Thursday at 5:00 p.m. at the REAL grounds.

Regina resident John Thompson said his daughter convinced him last year at the height of the pandemic to bring the decorated truck back for the first time since 1999.

“Last year with the pandemic going on, my daughter who is now a mother of two, was like ‘dad we need to bring the coke truck back’ and I was a little hesitant, because it’s a lot of work, but she said no we need to do this, people need something to look forward too,” Thompson said.

That return was so successful in 2020, it inspired Coke to launch a national holiday truck tour that will see light shows all over the country this season.

“We put the lights on the truck around 300 feet one Saturday morning and went to the old Costco parking lot and the amount of people that pulled in there, car after car, we realized we need to do this everyday and we did until Christmas Eve,” Thompson added.

“I get shivers talking about it now,” Thompson said of the success last year. “It was a lot of work and there were days when we didn’t really want to go out last year, but once we got out and saw the reactions and the smiles on everyone’s faces during such a tough time, it made it totally worth it and we just got out and back at it everyday, said Thompson.

This year in Regina, the truck will also make appearances at the Superstore on Albert Street, Sobeys and Co-op on Quance Street and the Superstore on Prince of Wales Drive.

More can be read on the tour’s Facebook Page.