Get cozy at home this holiday season and let the festivities come to you! This year, check out virtual events and activities to connect with friends, family, and traditional festivities online.

Virtual Party Games & Activities

If you’re planning a virtual holiday party on Zoom or another platform, you’ll need some party games!

A Christmas-themed Jeopardy game

You can host your own holiday-themed game of Jeopardy using JeopardyLabs.com. Search for a Jeopardy Game from the existing templates or build your own! Some festive topics might include Christmas movies, carol lyrics, Hannukah traditions, or holiday jokes.

Christmas cookies

You could also keep the friendly competition going by turning your favourite holiday activities into challenges! Help get everyone stocked up on some sweet treats by challenging friends and family to a cookie-decorating contest. Search online for inspiration, like this video from Little Cookie Co, or come up with your own designs. Everyone can bake or buy their favourite cookies, then find a time to get together for a video meeting in the kitchen to decorate!

If it’s decorations you need, you can do the same thing with a Christmas craft challenge. Choose a simple craft, like these cardboard tube Christmas elves, and see who’s elf comes out on top!

Online Events

CP Christmas Train at Home

The CP Holiday Train is an annual tradition lights up Vancouver each winter. The Holiday Train usually travels across the US and Canada, collecting food and funds for local food banks. Crowds would gather at the train’s stops to see the festive, illuminated train and enjoy some free entertainment.

This year, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the train isn’t running, but the spirt of the Holiday Train will carry on through a virtual concert. CP will produce a benefit concert, streaming live on Facebook, to raise money for food banks across North America. Get into the holiday spirit with musical performances from Serena Ryder, The Trews, JoJo Mason, Logan Staats, and Kelly Prescott.

Celebrations of Light - featuring traditions from various winter holidays

Learn about the various winter holidays celebrated here and around the world with the Coquitlam Heritage Society. Celebrations of Light is an “online presentation of poetry, music, and traditions that celebrate the light during our season of short days and long nights.” Learn about Coquitlam’s heritage and how the French community in Maillardville celebrated the holiday season. The presentation will also explore the traditions of Diwali, Hannukah, Kwanza, and Winter Solstice.

For more family fun over the holiday season, check out the Coquitlam Heritage Society’s other online events, like Christmas Ghost Stories and Heritage Live! Beyond the Polar Express.

Theatre at Home

Two adults and two children in chicken costumes strike a hilarious pose among the assorted props and costumes from previous East Van Pantos

If you like a little comedy in your Christmas celebrations, there’s nothing like the magic of theatre!

The East Van Panto, a holiday favourite, is going digital this year with a live-streamed production of Panto Come Home! In the show, Theatre Replacement’s Artistic Directors James Long and Maiko Yamamoto sneak into the York theatre to find Veda Hill at the piano, in her pyjamas, trying to relieve past Pantos. To cheer her up, they call up a bunch of friends, dig out the old costumes, and sing and dance the East Van Panto hits! Of course, things all go sideways when the Phanto of the Panto swoops in…Whether you’re new to Panto or it’s part of your holiday tradition, Panto Come Home! will delight you with all the best that this East Van favourite has to offer.

The online performance is family friendly and captions are available.

The Twelve Days of Christmas - a one-woman show

The Arts Club is also serving up a hilarious holiday offering with The Twelve Dates of Christmas. In this one-woman play, Mary tries to navigate dating during the holiday season just one month after seeing her fiancé kiss another woman on national TV. After a series of dates that range from comical to bad to comically bad, Mary is growing more and more cynical—until she meets someone who changes her outlook on life. The Twelve Dates of Christmas is not your typical Christmas rom-com. Be prepared for some serious heart under all the humour as Mary learns about herself, life, and love.

An audio-described digital stream of the play is available for people who are blind or partially sighted.


Looking to celebrate with a meaningful gift or entertainment for your virtual holiday party? Check out our gift and celebration guide! The items in the guide have been selected to help you deliver gifts and experiences that will benefit artists with diverse abilities, disability advocates and the organizations operating in the social care sector. Find it here: Buy Social! Your Holiday Gift Giving and Celebration Guide