When you are ready to party, nothing should stop you. So what if it is bone-chillingly cold? So what if the temperature is -19 degrees? So what if the road is covered in ice and snow?
Bundled up in woolly hats, mittens and extra layers of clothing, Christmas fun-seekers flocked into Main Street on Friday night determined to have a good time.
Some gathered around fires and propane heaters as they waited for the 7 p.m. start of the Christmas Festival, sipping hot drinks and watching barricades erected.
Their patience was rewarded with the first lights and sounds of a parade near the post office and administration building.
It grew in intensity, becoming brighter and louder as it crept towards the intersection and continued down main street.
The procession, which had started at the Splash Park, near the Agrena, glittered and sparkled with floats bearing Christmas images and messages. There were Santa balloons, ornamental lights and religious inscriptions.
The Barrhead and District Chamber of Commerce, the festival sponsor, had encouraged all local businesses to join in.
Among the many participants were the fire and ambulance services, flashing their lights, BCHS students carrying an anti-drinking and driving banner, Barrhead Recreation, Town of Barrrhead, the Barrhead Leader and the Church of God.
Dancers from the Footworks Dance Academy kept up a high-energy performance, perhaps enlivened by the need to keep warm.
Some floats paused to hand candy to children or to allow people to take photographs.
Good humour, laughter and cries of “Happy Christmas” abounded even as the last of the floats disappeared into the night.
The sight of horse-drawn wagon rides up and down snow-covered Main Street, carrying groups of excited children, seamlessly filled the gap.
Parents watched as horses pulled their loads and children gave free rein to their imagination.
Onlookers and passersby who found the cold a little hard to bear could warm themselves with hot chocolate served from a stand outside the Define Clothing store.
For some the serious business of bargain hunting was now about to start. With stores staying open until 9:30 p.m. there was plenty of time to browse and see what was on sale.
Some lucky shoppers found a musical accompaniment to their hunting, courtesy of the Joyful Melody Trio, who should have been re-titled the Joyful Melody Duo for the night.
While Cari Blum and Colleen Durocher were present, singing a beautiful mix of traditional and modern Christmas carols, Joyce Dietrich was absent for medical reasons.
Colleen’s 11-year-old daughter, Shaelyn, occasionally filled in, seeming to enjoy the chance to show that singing runs in the family.
“It has been great fun,” said Cari as the trio prepared to move to another location.
For anyone stopping at Picture This Alberta, a different form of entertainment was on offer.
Dozens of children lined up – either on foot or in strollers – to have their photograph taken with Santa. Among them were Caden Lane, aged two, and his six-month-old sister Chloe, who had been taken to the store by grandfather, Bill Lane, a councillor with Barrhead County council.
At one point the line extended from the front of the store to the back.
Those entering Elize Zuk’s business, The Right Angle, had an extra incentive beyond admiring the art, fashion and glitz. The store was one of those taking part in the home-made gingerbread house competition – and its elaborately designed entry was displayed in the front window.
Also involved in the gingerbread competition were The Brick, Southside Greenhouses, the library and Servus Credit Union.
As the evening wore on, the crowd began to thin. People made their way home, knowing that the Christmas spirit had begun in Barrhead.
