Planning a romantic date for the holiday season is easy in Calgary! There are many ways to get out and enjoy the best of the season together, no matter your interests or the type of date you are after.
Credit: Calgary Zoo
With the winter weather, there are a host of recreational activities around town which can make for an inexpensive and rewarding day together. And with the holidays, we get different celebrations and events around Calgary like holiday light displays, live entertainment, and festive food and drink.
A food and drink sort of date can also easily be combined with outdoor fun like skating or snowshoeing, and either is a great way to explore the city and celebrate the holidays together.
Festivals & Events
Enchanted Festival
Spruce Meadows is rolling out a new holiday experience – The Enchanted Festival. Enjoy a cozy evening stroll through sparkling lights and firepits, with great food, a touch of shopping, and indoor fun like family movies, a Christmas Lights Maze, and interactive displays. Details
When: December 5 to 24, 2025
Where: Spruce Meadows – 18011 Spruce Meadows Way SW, Calgary
How much: $20
Holiday Shows at the Jubilee
Calgary’s Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium has a few upcoming holiday shows which can make for a fun, memorable, and romantic date all-in-one. The festive shows continue through January 4th, with performances such as Twilight In Concert. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – In Concert and The Nutcracker by the Alberta Ballet.
When: Until January 4
Where: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium 1415 14 Ave NW
How much: Varies
Once upon a Christmas at Heritage Park
The holiday spirit will fill Heritage Park over the month of December with its annual Once upon a Christmas event. The snow-covered historical park is enough on its own to create a romantic outdoor setting for a walk, and the event will have several other ways to enjoy your day out, like holiday shopping, live theatre, dining, and sleigh rides. Details
When: December 6 – 23, 2025
Where: Heritage Park, Calgary
How much: $14.95 to $29.95 +fees
Zoolights
The Zoolights event at the Calgary Zoo is on for the entire holiday season and you’ll get to explore the Zoo under the magical holiday light displays together. You can book Snow Globes (which includes food) or enjoy a Festive Feast for romantic night out. Details
When: November 14 to January 4, 2026
Where: 210 St. George’s Drive NE
How much:$13.95 to $22.95
TELUS Spark’s Merry & Matter!
The TELUS Spark building will be brightly lit all season long for their Merry & Matter! holiday event. You and your date can visit the Science Centre for a variety of fun and immersive light displays and a host of other activities. You can stop by the café for festive hot drinks, festive dining, or other food promotions, too! Details
When: November 12 – January 4, 2026
Where: 220 St. George’s Drive NE
How much: Regular Admission
Food & Drink Date Ideas in Calgary
Get to the Holiday Pop Up Bars
The best part about the Holiday pop up bars is that each will usually feature their own menu of themed food and cocktails. And each popup bar is open for at least a couple of weeks.
- Miracle on First Street will take place at Proof until December 24.
- The Sippin Santa event at Ricardo’s Hideaway is on until December 31.
- Nightmare on First Street until December 31 at Shelter Cocktail Bar
Board Game Cafes
Avoid winter boredom with Calgary’s board game cafes. As a date, these restaurants give you dining and drink options, as well as a cozy place to enjoy cards or a one-on-one board game. Each café gives you a wide variety of gameplay types, and game genres.
- The Hexagon Board Game Cafe: #200 1140 Kensington Rd NW
- ShoeBox Games & Cafe: 509 McKnight Blvd NE
- D6 Tabletop Cafe: 2323 32 Ave NE #112
Dinner & a Movie at Heritage Park
The Park’s Dinner and a Movie will feature It’s a Wonderful Life and The Sound of Music . There will be a special curated menu, along with a cash bar and popcorn for sale. Details
When: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946): Dec. 16, 2025
The Sound of Music (1965): Dec. 17, 2025
Where: Gasoline Alley Museum
How much: $49.95 plus GST
Try Something New or Festive for Dinner
Treat your date to something new and different, or something everyone is talking about. Along with new eateries, Calgary is also home to some award-winning spots which offer a variety of places to choose from with casual, gourmet, snacks, brunch, and, craft cocktails, and more. View some of the newest and best of Calgary’s restaurants here.
Jubilations Dinner Theatre
Ahoy there, matey! Cap’n Jack and his crew are ready to set sail from the port of Jubilations Dinner Theatre. The production runs throughout the holiday season and will include original songs, and the experience includes a buffet dinner. Details
When: Through January 10, 2026
Where: 2061, 8882 170 Street
How much: $61.25-$85.95
Cozy Cafes
Make things nice and simple for your next date with one of Calgary’s coziest and comfiest cafes. The quieter spaces in the café allow for plenty of conversation, and some offer incredibly romantic and quaint atmospheres. The cozy places to talk also come with great food and warm drink selections.
- Tommy Cafe in the Mount Royal neighbourhood offers a menu of beautiful café drinks and snack-sized eats.
- Monogram Coffee is in a nice central downtown location near the rink at Prince’s Island Park.
- Angel’s Café is an adorable riverside spot serving breakfast, brunch, and dinner.
Stop by a Winter Patio
Patio season doesn’t need to end with fall or summer and is still well underway at a few Calgary restaurants. Enjoy all the natural light from outside while you dine and drink and avoid all of the cold. Or bundle up and gather round the fire together for the open-air patios.
- Rooftop offers an exceptional covered patio experience all year round, as well as a vibrant atmosphere and great food.
- Bottlescrew Bill’s also offer a covered and warm patio, along with live music, theme nights, and game nights.
Outdoor Winter Fun
Explore the Outdoor Light Displays
The Christmas and Holiday spirit is alive and bright in many ways in Calgary this year, including through the outdoor light displays. The date can include a walk or drive through picturesque Christmas scenes, full lit at night. The walk-through displays will also give you and your date adorable photo opportunities the whole way through.
- The Lions Festival of Lights will brighten Confederation Park with another year of their pretty walk-through holiday light displays.
- Airdrie is home to Western Canada’s largest outdoor walkthrough light display. The city’s Festival of Lights is set up off the main street and encompasses the Nose Creek Pond.
- More Places to See Christmas and Holiday Light Displays in and Around Calgary
Holiday Market Shopping
Get your Christmas shopping done together with an afternoon at the markets! This can be an especially helpful afternoon out for couples with kids. Either way, each holiday market has local vendors of all kinds, festive food and drink, or contests and raffles.
- Explore the European Christmas Village Market at Bearspaw. You can enjoy live entertainment and fireworks too!
- The Saskatoon Farm Christmas Market is a convenient market with three open weekends before Christmas, and over 200 vendors!
- The Market Collective’s Holiday Series features a wide variety of local vendors with gift ideas for your date or others.
- Support Indigenous and local artists and businesses at the annual Christmas at the Nation. This holiday market will feature an array of local Calgary and Indigenous vendors.
A Day at WinSport and COP
A date with some fresh and air and exercise can be enjoyed one of two ways at WinSport: either on the hill with skis or snowboards, or on the other hill with snow tubes. WinSport also has a chalet area where you can relax with a drink or a meal after your time outside. Details
When: Throughoutr Winter Season
Where: 88 Canada Olympic Road SW
Rent Ice Bikes!
There are a few features that make Bowness Park an excellent outdoor date option this year, including ice bike rentals, a skating trail, and a large crokicurl play area (great for double or group dates). The park itself is in a romantic, treed-in setting next to the Bow River and has over 1km of track which opens into the large lagoon area, also open for skating. Details
When: rentals open by Christmas Day
Where: 8900 48 Ave NW
How much: rentals $12-$20 per person
Explore Calgary’s Other Skating Areas
Bowness Park is but one option for a skating date location in the city. There are central skating rinks and icewaysin Calgary, which can bring your date outside, while you’re still near plenty of dinner or drink options.
- North Glenmore Park has over 700m of ice trail and a smaller rink that attaches to the trail.
- Prince’s Island Park also offers a skating area on the lagoon, with excellent views of downtown Calgary.
Book a Sled Dog Tour
There are two dog sled tour operators in Canmore with whom you can book and exciting and unique afternoon date. Plus, you can enjoy a mini road trip together for the hour-or-so-long drive between Calgary and Canmore.
- Howling Dog Tours has two-hour packages available for December, with other tours starting up in January.
- The Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours offer four different winter excursions with their pups over winter, with their two-hour Powder Hound Express available in December.
- Places Offering Dogsledding Tours in Alberta
Cross-Country Skiing in the City
Calgary has seven official cross-country ski areas in the city, making it a convenient way to get some exercise while on a date. No skis? No problem: the University of Calgary rent out skis and poles.
- South Glenmore Park offers a simple 2.2km loop.
- The trails at Shaganappi Point Golf Course are a bit more extensive, and include areas for snowshoes, and fat biking, too.
- The Confederation Park Golf Course is a nice medium with over 3km in trails which vary in elevation gain.
- Other areas in Calgary with groomed trails include Bowness Park, Lakeview Golf Course, Maple Ridge Golf Course, and North Glenmore Park.
Rent a Pair of Snowshoes
An afternoon together can be spent exploring off-the-beaten paths, stopping by the firepits for warmth, and picnicking in the snow! There are a few different places in Calgary who offer snowshoe rentals which you can bring out to the fields, parks, and trails, for a refreshing date.
- The University of Calgary offers basic snowshoe rentals and is near parks like Nose Hill and Shouldice.
- Sports Rent in Northwest Calgary offers snowshoes on their own, or as a package with poles and other gear.
- You can rent snowshoes and packages from AQ Outdoors, which also offer splitboard rentals.
Indoor Attractions & Indoor Date Ideas
Christmas Theatre
Get ready for Christmas together with some of the most recognizable holiday tales of all time.
- Theatre Calgary’s A Christmas Carol @ Max Bell Theatre
- ATP’s The Wizard of Oz @ Martha Cohen Theatre
- StoryBook Theatre’s Miracle on 34th Street @ Beddington Theatre Arts Centre
- Lunchbox Theatre’s How Patty and Joanne Won High Gold at the Grand Christmas Cup Winter Dance Competition @ Vertigo Theatre
Hit the Arcades
Escape the cold, the snow, or all of the above, with your date this season, and warm up with a few rounds of games. Calgary has a few different locations who offer memorable arcade experiences alongside food and drink menus, or other activities.
- There are several games and activities within the Rec Room in north Calgary, like arcade-style, tabletop, redemption, and more.
- Downtown Calgary’s Greta Bar offers a variety of classic arcade games, including Street Fighter, Tomb Raider, Donkey Kong, and Pong.
- Pinbar offers a fun selection of pinball games, as well as other arcade games, and small bites or cocktails.
Racing at SPEEDERS
The go-kart racing available at SPEEDERS is a thrilling way to spend an afternoon with a loved one or a new date. The electric karts race as fast as 70km/hour, but if this is your first time, they can start you off at a slower maximum speed. Online bookings are available to help you save more time for racing while you’re there. Details
Where: 58 Aero Dr NE, unit 109,
How much: $42 & up
Picnic at the Devonian Gardens
One of downtown Calgary’s most unique attractions can give you a unique, romantic, and natural setting for a winter picnic. The completely sheltered and enclosed Devonian Gardens include 2.5 acres of 50+ types of plants and trees. There are tables throughout, and the CORE mall below, where you can grab some food. Details
Where: 400, 317 7 Ave. S.W (4 floor in the CORE Shopping Centre)
How much: free