The BC Small Towns Hallmark Keeps Filming Christmas Movies in

That snowy small-town main street in your Christmas movie was probably in BC, and it was probably filmed in summer. Maple Ridge says it has hosted more than 100 holiday-themed productions since 2016, almost all of them shot in the warm months. Ladner Village was dressed for a Hallmark Christmas movie during a late-July heat wave. In 2018, Langley logged 1,788 filming days, second in the province only to the City of Vancouver.

The Okanagan is in on it too. The region’s film commissioner has said it makes a lot of Hallmark and Movie of the Week TV films.

This is a guide to the actual places: which movies used them, what the street looks like when the crew trucks leave, and when each town puts up real lights, tree lightings and parades in late November and December 2026. Where a 2026 date isn’t posted yet, we say so.

10. Peachland (Okanagan)

Peachland’s lakeside Beach Avenue has been dressed up as an American town for several Hallmark productions. In March 2024, Christmas trees lined the street for A Christmas Less Travelled, shot mainly on Beach Avenue between Princeton and 4th Street. The Kelowna Daily Courier has described an ongoing love affair between Hallmark and the town.

The 2026 Winter Light Up date isn’t posted yet. For reference, the 2025 event was Friday, Dec. 5, in Heritage Park, with a glow parade along Beach Avenue, a bonfire and a countdown to the lights (District of Peachland). Lions Club hot dogs and hot chocolate were by donation, with proceeds to the food bank.

In 2025, Beach Avenue between 1st and 6th streets closed to traffic from 5:45 to 6:30 pm for the glow parade, so park early. Peachland is on Highway 97 on the west side of Okanagan Lake, and getting there from the Lower Mainland means mountain highways that require winter tires.

9. Cloverdale Town Centre (Surrey)

Cloverdale’s historic main drag along 176 Street is best known as Smallville, but it has done Christmas too. In spring 2016, A Wish for Christmas filmed in the 5700 block of 176 Street, with fake snow outside Hawthorne Square. The Christmas Makeover followed at 176 Street and 57 Avenue. CBC counted eight productions on 176th Street in 2016 alone.

It hasn’t stopped. In June 2026, the Cloverdale BIA said the productions lined up for the rest of the year included a Hallmark Christmas show (Surrey Now-Leader).

Walking the town centre is free. We didn’t confirm Cloverdale’s 2026 Christmas events, so check with the BIA before planning a December visit around them. Hawthorne Square, off 176 Street, is the spot that got the fake snow for A Wish for Christmas.

Holiday movies reported at each location

Location	Titles reported	When filmed or released (where known)
Fort Langley	Marry Me at Christmas; Forgotten Holiday (some scenes, reported)	2017; 2026 Countdown to Christmas
Ladner Village	Finding Santa; The Christmas Ring; A Maple Valley Christmas; Christmas Duet; A Joyous Christmas; Christmas in the Air; Miss Christmas	The Christmas Ring 2020; A Maple Valley Christmas filmed July 2022
Steveston	It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (per a filming tracker); Christmas in the Air (also listed for Ladner)	Filmed November 2019; Christmas in the Air 2017
Maple Ridge	Christmas on Cherry Lane; Long Lost Christmas; The Christmas Baby	Summers 2023 and 2024; 2022; 2025
Mission	Ms. Christmas Comes to Town; A Novel Noel; Confessions of a Christmas Letter; Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas (title unconfirmed)	Listed as 2021 by Scenic Route 7; 2022 by Maple Ridge
Agassiz and Harrison Hot Springs	Long Lost Christmas; Bad Times at the El Royale (Pioneer Avenue as a 1950 Christmas scene)	Long Lost Christmas filmed September 2022
Burnaby Village Museum	Christmas in Evergreen series, including Letters to Santa (reported)	Letters to Santa filmed in September
Peachland	A Christmas Less Travelled	Filmed March 2024
Summerland	The Angel Tree; The Christmas Yule Blog; Our Holiday Story	Oct. 2020; summer 2020; filmed September 2024
Cloverdale	A Wish for Christmas; The Christmas Makeover	Spring 2016

8. Downtown Summerland (Okanagan)

Summerland’s downtown keeps standing in for small U.S. towns. Hallmark’s The Angel Tree filmed here Oct. 13 to 15, 2020. Earlier that year, a holiday parade for The Christmas Yule Blog was filmed on Main Street, with Summerland playing a New Mexico town. In September 2024, Main Street got snow and decorations for a street-festival scene in Our Holiday Story, which premiered Nov. 2, 2024. The Okanagan Film Commission says it was filmed in Kelowna and Summerland.

The real festival has a longer run than any of the movies. The 39th annual Summerland Festival of Lights is Friday, Nov. 27, 2026, 5 to 9 pm, around Main Street and Victoria Road. The light-up is at 7 pm and fireworks are at 8:30 pm. It’s normally held on the last Friday of November, and it’s free and open to all ages.

Organizers say it draws more than 10,000 people, so aim to arrive by 5 pm. The Light Up the Vines winery events on Bottleneck Drive have run alongside it in recent years. Summerland is on Highway 97 between Peachland and Penticton, across the same winter-tire highways as Peachland.

7. Downtown Mission (First Avenue)

The City of Mission says productions have used its historic main street, a 1950s diner, the waterfront and the Ruskin and Stave Falls dams. Scenic Route 7, a regional tourism group, says Hallmark’s Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas (2021) was made downtown. Maple Ridge lists a similar title, Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas (2022), so the exact name and year are unsettled.

Mission’s own Christmas moment is the Candlelight Parade along First Avenue. The Chamber says it draws more than 12,000 spectators, and the city calls it one of the largest nighttime parades in the Fraser Valley.

The 2026 parade is Saturday, Dec. 5, starting at 6 pm. Float registration closes Nov. 20, 2026. The Chamber posts only float and vendor fees; no spectator admission is listed.

In 2025 the route ran along First Avenue and Lougheed Highway from Horne Street west to Haig Street, closed to traffic from 3 to 10 pm, and cars parked on the route were subject to towing. The 2026 route and closure times aren’t posted. Arrive well before 6 pm, park off the route and walk in.

6. Downtown Maple Ridge and Memorial Peace Park (Maple Ridge)

If one structure deserves a screen credit, it’s the bandstand in Memorial Peace Park. The City of Maple Ridge says it has appeared in more than 30 shows in four years. The city says it has hosted more than 100 holiday-themed productions since 2016.

This is a business, not a novelty. In 2018, CBC reported a dozen or so Christmas movies filmed in Maple Ridge that year, four of them for Hallmark. The city’s film liaison has said downtown can’t take more than two productions at once.

The real decorations are the red bells hung along Lougheed Highway and 224th Street, which go up in late November. The 2026 Winter Fest date isn’t posted yet. In 2025, Christmas in the Park, the Christmas Market, food trucks and photos with Santa ran Saturday, Dec. 6, 4 to 8 pm, with the Santa Claus Parade from 6 to 7:30 pm (city holiday events).

Memorial Peace Park is at 11930 224 Street. The 2025 parade added a sensory-friendly viewing area on Dewdney Trunk Road between Plaza and Garden streets, with quieter floats. Check whether it returns in 2026 if that matters for your family.

5. Agassiz and Harrison Hot Springs (Fraser Valley)

In September 2022, Hallmark’s Long Lost Christmas filmed in Agassiz and Harrison Hot Springs. Pioneer Avenue was lined with fake snow, snowmen, Christmas trees and Santas, plus a mini Christmas tree farm. The lobby of the Harrison Hot Springs Resort was decorated as well, and the Rockwell Harrison Guest Lodge B&B says it appears in the storyline. The film premiered on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in November 2022.

Pioneer Avenue had done this before. Tourism Harrison says it was turned into a 1950 Christmas scene for the Hollywood film Bad Times at the El Royale.

Lights by the Lake runs daily from dusk to 11 pm, Nov. 21, 2026 to Jan. 10, 2027, along the lakeside promenade. The opening ceremony is Nov. 21 from 5 to 8 pm, with photos with Santa and Sasquatch, the Jingle Paws Pet Parade and fireworks. Free hot chocolate that night goes to the first 1,000 people. Festive Nights follow on Dec. 5 and 19, 2026; times and locations are still to be announced. The lights were free in 2025, and the 2026 page doesn’t state a price.

Do both in one trip. Walk Pioneer Avenue in Agassiz in daylight to see the movie main street, then continue to Harrison for the lights after dark.

4. Ladner Village (Delta)

In 2017 alone, Hallmark used Ladner Village as the backdrop for four Christmas movies. The village saw eight productions over 27 days that year. Finding Santa took over Delta Street between Bridge Street and 48th Avenue for scenes that included a parade and a Christmas Candlelight Stroll. In The Christmas Ring (2020), the Delta Police community station stood in for the Pine Grove Gazette.

The summer-snow habit is well documented here. Storefronts were decorated in late July 2022 for Hallmark’s A Maple Valley Christmas, in the middle of a heat wave. The Delta Optimist also lists Christmas Duet, A Joyous Christmas, Christmas in the Air and Miss Christmas as Ladner shoots.

The real version happens Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026, at the Ladner Business Association Tree Lighting Festival at 48th Avenue and Delta Street. The LBA lists it as 6 to 7:30 pm, with Santa arriving around 7 pm to light the tree. The Delta Chamber lists the same night as 5 to 8 pm, so confirm the time before you go. The LBA describes it as a family event; confirm admission details on its page. Breakfast with Santa follows on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026, 8 to 11 am at Ladner Community Centre.

Kids can bring a letter, since the festival has a mail-your-letter-to-Santa station. The stretch of Delta Street between Bridge Street and 48th Avenue is the one you’ve seen in Finding Santa’s parade scenes.

3. Steveston Village (Richmond)

Richmond’s historic fishing village has played plenty of holiday small towns. In November 2019, the Steveston Museum was decorated and turned into a festive city hall for a Hallmark Christmas movie, which a filming-tracker account identified as It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. The Georgia Straight says Christmas in the Air (2017) was filmed in Steveston, while the Delta Optimist lists it as a Ladner shoot. It may have used both.

Steveston also supplies some of the snow. CBC reported that crews often go to the fishing docks here to stock up on shaved ice, which ends up on other towns’ sidewalks.

Winter in the Village runs Nov. 19 to Dec. 31, 2026, with lights, displays and a range of free family events. The 2026 event calendar is now posted: Santa arrives by boat at Fisherman’s Wharf at 1 pm on Sunday, Nov. 29, with photos at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery from 2 to 4 pm, and the holiday tree lighting is the same day in front of the Steveston Tram (4011 Moncton St.), with entertainment from 4 pm and the tree lit at 4:45 pm. The Holiday Dog Parade is Sunday, Dec. 6, gathering at Phoenix Pond at 10:30 am and starting at 10:45 am along Imperial Landing. For reference, the free 2025 Winter Tram display ran Dec. 1 to 31, 10 am to 4 pm, closed Mondays and stat holidays. Gulf of Georgia Cannery admission is free all day (10 am to 5 pm) on Nov. 29 for Santa’s arrival; check the Cannery’s site for admission on other days.

The Steveston Museum and the Tram building are a short walk apart on Moncton Street. Try a weekday at dusk to see the lights come on. The Tourism Richmond kiosk is on Bayview Street between First Avenue and No. 1 Road.

2. Burnaby Village Museum (Burnaby)

It isn’t a town, but it may be the most famous fake one on this list. This 10-acre open-air heritage village in Deer Lake Park is reportedly where Hallmark films Evergreen, the fictional Vermont town in its Christmas in Evergreen movies. Crews used shaved ice for the wintry look while filming Letters to Santa in September.

The village has a general store, a 1912 carousel and period homes and shops. Every holiday season it becomes Festive Village, with lights, carollers, roving entertainers and Father Christmas.

Festive Village runs Nov. 25, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027. From Nov. 25 to Dec. 13 it’s open Wednesday to Sunday, 2 to 9 pm, and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. From Dec. 16 to Jan. 3 it’s open daily, 2 to 9 pm, except Dec. 24 and 25 (City of Burnaby schedule). Gate admission is free. Carousel rides are $2.86 plus tax each.

The museum is at 6501 Deer Lake Ave. Try a Wednesday or Thursday evening in early December and budget a few carousel rides. Walking these streets is about as close as you’ll get to standing on an Evergreen set.

1. Fort Langley Village (Township of Langley)

Fort Langley’s heritage main street, Glover Road and the blocks around it, turns up in holiday TV movie after holiday TV movie. The Georgia Straight places Hallmark’s Marry Me at Christmas (2017) in the village. Some scenes of Forgotten Holiday, part of Hallmark’s 2026 Countdown to Christmas, were reportedly shot here too. Filming isn’t a seasonal thing in the Township. It counted 136 productions in 2016, 151 in 2017 and 135 in 2018.

The village grew up beside Fort Langley National Historic Site, a reconstructed Hudson’s Bay Company fur-trading post on the Fraser River. The fort is open daily from 10 am to 4:30 pm, but it closes Dec. 24, 25, 26 and 31 and Jan. 1 (Parks Canada hours). Admission is $10 for adults and free for youth 17 and under. Parks Canada’s Canada Strong Pass free admission covered Dec. 12, 2025 to Jan. 15, 2026. No free period has been posted for the 2026 to 2027 winter.

The 2026 community tree lighting date isn’t posted yet. In 2025 it was Saturday, Nov. 29, and Santa arrived by canoe in Bedford Channel around 5 pm. The Christmas in the Village festive market runs Dec. 18 to 20, 2026, from 10 am to 6 pm daily at the Fort Langley Community Hall, 9167 Glover Rd.

The fort lot at 23433 Mavis Ave. has been pay parking since Nov. 1, 2025. Fort visitors get up to 4 hours free by registering their plate at the Visitor Centre (parking details). Payment is card or app only, with no cash. There are six accessible stalls near the Visitor Centre, though some slope more than 8%. If you’re set-spotting in daylight, register at the fort first and the free hours will cover a walk through the village as well.

When the Hallmark towns light up: 2026 dates

Town	Event	Date	Cost
Steveston	Winter in the Village	Nov 19–Dec 31	Many free events
Harrison Hot Springs	Lights by the Lake	Nov 21–Jan 10 (dusk–11 pm)	Free in 2025; 2026 not stated
Burnaby Village Museum	Festive Village	Nov 25–Jan 3	Free gate; carousel $2.86+tax
Ladner	Tree Lighting Festival	Nov 26, 6–7:30 pm	Free
Summerland	Festival of Lights	Nov 27, 5–9 pm	Free
Mission	Candlelight Parade	Dec 5, 6 pm	Free to watch
Fort Langley	Christmas in the Village market	Dec 18–20, 10 am–6 pm	Not stated

When to go

Most of these towns light up between the third week of November and the first week of December, so a few weekends can cover a lot of ground. Harrison’s lights run longest, into Jan. 10, 2027, and Burnaby’s Festive Village goes to Jan. 3, 2027. The date table above has the confirmed 2026 events.

• 2026 dates aren’t posted yet for the Fort Langley tree lighting, Maple Ridge Winter Fest, the Peachland Light Up and the Steveston event calendar.
• Ladner’s tree lighting time differs between organizers (6 to 7:30 pm or 5 to 8 pm), so confirm before you go.
• If you want to see the fake snow, you’re too late by December. Most Christmas shoots happen in summer and early fall.

Driving to the Okanagan

BC drivers must obey winter tire and chain signs from Oct. 1 to April 30 (BC winter tire rules). On some highways that don’t cross mountain passes, the requirement ends March 31. Trips to Peachland and Summerland from the Lower Mainland cross designated mountain highways. Check DriveBC before you leave, and pack for a delay on the pass.

Set-spotting etiquette

• These are working towns that put limits on filming. The Township of Langley can flag a neighbourhood as film-sensitive after three or more productions in 90 days (Township filming guidelines).
• Surrey requires productions to notify neighbourhoods at least two full business days ahead (City of Surrey filming).
• If you come across a live shoot, stay behind crew lines and keep the sidewalk clear for people who live and work there.

What to bring

• Rain gear and warm layers. Most of these events are outdoors after dark.
• A card or parking app. The Fort Langley fort lot doesn’t take cash.
• Blankets or chairs for the Mission parade.
• A letter to Santa for the Ladner tree lighting.

The trick of these movies is that the towns are real, even if the snow isn’t. Fort Langley, Ladner, Steveston and the rest put up their own lights every year, without a crew in sight. Pick a weekend, check the dates that haven’t been posted yet, and go see the version that doesn’t get filmed in July.

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Photo credits

• Fraser at Dusk 02.jpg by Laol12, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Gulf of Georgia Cannery.jpg by Alexey Golubev, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver-RIchmond Steveson 6.jpg by Rayxz, CC BY-SA 3.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Fishing Vessel Lady Valerie at Steveston Village’s Fishing Wharf in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, during stormy weather.jpg by William Chen, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Wendel’s in Fort Langley.JPG by Sunray, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Barber Island, British Columbia.jpg by Canuckle, CC0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Steveston-pano.jpg by Arnold C (User:Buchanan-Hermit), Attribution (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Mission Post Office British Columbia Canada.jpg by Chris McArdle from Mission BC, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Harrisons Hot Springs Mountain by ajithrajeswari.jpg by Ajith Rajeswari, Public domain (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Druggist’s store at Burnaby Village Museum (11594773005).jpg by Ruth Hartnup from Vancouver, Canada, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Peachland, British Columbia.jpg by erwlas, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Summerland uppertown.jpg by User: (WT-shared) Bulliver at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 1.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Cloverdale-Jewellry-Loans.jpg by Arnold C, Attribution (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.