Christmas carolers turn up the community spirit in northwest Calgary neighbourhood

A call was put out for Christmas carolers in the northwest Calgary community of Bowness and around 50 people showed up to sing.

Calgary — Close to 50 people from around Calgary descended to the northwest community of Bowness Tuesday night, transforming the neighbourhood into a big, impromptu, outdoor concert hall.

They wanted to take part in singing traditional Christmas songs from house to house.

First-time (as an adult) caroler Kevin Dick, who lives in Pineridge up in northeast Calgary, said he used to go Christmas caroling with his family when he was a kid and had a blast.

He was willing to join a group of newfound friends to find out whether his heart was still full of holiday songs.

"We’re just having fun," Dick said. "We’ll see if this will turn out to be a family tradition in the future. This is the first time this year and what happens next year happens next year."

He added if someone was willing to organize this, he was willing to follow.

Elaine West, who is known to her neighbours as the Queen of Bowness, has lived in the community for 22 years. She said she was having tea with her friend Amanda and talking about Christmas and shopping malls.

"I said, 'wouldn’t it be great to go caroling?'" said West.

The more they thought about it, the more it seemed like a thing to do.

They made a sign and stuck it into the ground in front of her house. The Bowness Community Association then took a picture of the sign and posted it to their Facebook page, which then made its way to Reddit.

West thought maybe 10 people would show up.

"Low and behold," she said. "Close to 50 people showed up."

West is pretty sure the huge turnout was a sign of something positive, and hopeful.

"This is the best way to get the community together," she said. "People like it, this is real, they get tired of the shopping malls.

"This is what Christmas is about, people of all ages walking and singing. It warms the heart."