Christmas Tea Lights at Camp Howdy

Christmas Tea Lights is a holiday season festival at Camp Howdy near Belcarra Park. There are light displays, boat rides, domed dining experiences and more.

The annual event runs from November 15th to December 22nd in 2024. Earlier in the year, there was a similar event at the same venue. GloFest ran from October 19th until November 3rd.

We went to Christmas Tea Lights for the first time this year and loved it! It made for a most enjoyable and memorable evening!

For tickets and full details about the attraction, visit the Christmas Tea Lights website.

Christmas Tea Lights Festival Attraction and Dome Dining Experience

Christmas Tea Lights is a festive celebration held at Camp Howdy. In 2024 it celebrates its second year. Presented by 123Festivals, the event features more than 150,000 lights to admire. There are a number of fun and family-friendly things to do on site.

GloDome Dining experiences take place in cozy, transparent structures on the property. The food on offer is delicious and cooked with organic ingredients. Indoors, in Nutcracker Hall, there are opportunities to learn about and sample healthy teas. Other components of the attraction are the holiday illuminations and a special evening light show. What’s more? Admission to Christmas Tea Lights includes boat rides to and from the picturesque venue. Guests can take water taxis from piers in Port Moody and North Vancouver.

For tickets to the event, visit the Christmas Tea Lights website.

Where and When Are Christmas Tea Lights

Christmas Tea Lights takes place at Camp Howdy. It’s an event venue located in Belcarra Regional Park which is just northwest of Port Moody. The place is about a one-hour drive from the City of Vancouver, but boat rides are provided on select dates from Rocky Point Park in Port Moody and from Deep Cove on the North Shore.

Camp Howdy is a residential camp that offers retreats and camp programs for both children and adults. Anyone can rent the facilities for events, including things like Christmas Tea Lights.

In 2024 the Christmas Tea Lights event happens on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between November 15th and December 22nd. Hours are from 3:30 to 9:30 pm.

Water taxis to and from the venue operate from Rocky Point Park every day of the festival, except for on November 22nd. Boat service from Deep Cove in North Vancouver, meanwhile, only runs on Saturdays.

Sailings on Fridays from Rocky Point Park are at 4:45 pm in November and at 5:45 in December. On Saturdays and Sundays there are sailings at both 3:30 and 5:45 pm. Sailings from Deep Cove are only on Saturdays beginning on November 30th. They depart at 4:00, 4:45, 5:30 and 6:15 pm.

LOWER MAINLAND CHRISTMAS EVENTS

Christmas Tea Lights is an exceptional event. There are other domed dining experiences in the Lower Mainland, and light festivals and events on boats, but nothing that combines all those things quite like the Christmas Tea Lights.

If you like Christmas illuminations and winter holiday activity-themed activities, other events you might also want to check out include Glow Langley, Martini Town, the Noel Holiday Light Festival, Vancouver Christmas Market, VanDusen Festival of Lights, the PNE Winter Fair, Canyon Lights at Capilano Bridge and a number of other events that you’ll find in our article about Vancouver’s Best Christmas Activities.

Admission Details

Prices to attend the Christmas Tea Light festival depend on which activities you want to do. Below is information about general admission and dining prices in 2024.

General Admission

Tickets for the Christmas Tea Lights event cost about $38 per person.

General admission includes the Tea Experience, Light Experience, and boat rides to and from Camp Howdy. Folks are also able to purchase food and drinks from Nutcracker Hall at an extra cost. Available items include organic pizzas, desserts, noodles and more.

GloDome Dining Prices

There are three different GloDome dining experiences to choose from in 2024, ranging from about $90 to $165 per person. All options include general admission to the venue. This means your meal comes with the boat rides and access to the Tea Experience and Light Experience.

The Heirloom Menu costs $90 each for up to 6 people. It comes with a choice of various sourdough pizzas, ochazuke, ramens and green tea rice bowls. Dessert is flavoured mini sourdoughnuts and there’s a choice between matcha lattes and mocktails as well.

The Gourmet Menu comes with choices of organic salads, soups, ribeye steak or miso sablefish and a dessert trio. This menu costs $138 each with a maximum of 6 people. Small groups are paired with other groups, so guests may meet and make new friends. The Gourmet Menu is also available for private bookings of up to 8 people in a larger dome. This experience starts at $160 per person.

For tickets to the event, visit the Christmas Tea Lights website.

What to Expect

When you go to Christmas Tea Lights your experience begins with a boat ride part way up Indian Arm to Camp Howdy in Belcarra Park. From Rocky Point Park in Port Moody the journey takes around an hour. From Deep Cove in North Vancouver the trip takes about 30 minutes. The boat ride makes for a lovely start to the experience (and ending too)!

When you disembark from the vessel at the docks at Camp Howdy you’ll walk up a small hill along a pathway that’s lined with beautiful Christmas lights. About two minutes later, when you get to the top of the hill, you’ll find an open grassy field decorated with Christmas lights.

On the field there are seven glass domes where guests can have their dinners. At the other end of the field there is Nutcracker Hall, which is another place where guests can dine. Nutcracker Hall is also where the tea sampling experience takes place, and where you can buy souvenirs and find the washrooms. Right outside Nutcracker Hall, overlooking the water, are three more GloDomes. The venue is a magically pretty place!

The Dining Experience

When we went to Christmas Tea Lights we went for the GloDome dining experience with a couple of friends. The four of us were shown to our private dome. It was nicely laid out inside. There were flowers on the table, pretty lighting, China teacups and place settings for dinner. Christmas music played softly in the background.

Our very professional and friendly server welcomed the group and offered us tea. We could choose one pot per two people from a wide selection of different teas including black teas, green teas and herbal teas. The teas were both organic and very tasty, as was everything we ate for dinner.

The five-course dinner included a delicious puréed vegetable soup, ancient grain sourdough bread, arugula salad, choice of main entrée and dessert. To finish off they also gave us a small cup of apple cider with cream on top. Attention to detail with the food was impressive. Each dish was presented like a piece of art! Everything both looked and tasted amazing.

For the main course there was the choice of ribeye steak or miso-glazed sable fish. Both were so good! Dessert was a trio of three different treats. They were chocolate pound cake, berry panna cotta and gelée de citron vert. Yum! As already mentioned, everything from the teas to the steak were 100% organic!

Christmas Tea Experience at Camp Howdy — Tea Experience

The Tea Experience

After dinner, whether you have the fancy fine dining experience in one of the GloDomes or you have pizza, ramen or one of the other options in Nutcracker Hall, there is the Tea Experience. This is when you go to a series of tea stations to sample and learn about tea. You get to see it brewed, learn about the art of making it, and then sample the teas. You can even try a leaf or two to eat. You’ll also learn about the many health benefits of the drinks. There are four stations behind which there are tea experts to greet you. It was a very interesting experience and we learned a lot!

For tickets to the event, visit the Christmas Tea Lights website.

The Festive Illuminations and Light Show

The grounds of Camp Howdy around the Christmas Tea Lights venue are decorated with pretty holiday light displays and illuminations. You can walk around the grounds and admire them before or after your dinner.

After dinner, and after your Tea Experience, there is a light show. Everyone gathers at the edge of the field to see the GloDomes come alive with Christmas music and synchronized light displays. The show lasts for about 15 minutes and it’s enjoyable to watch. For some the light show is the highlight of their evening. For others it’s the dinner, for some the Tea Experience, and for others the boat ride to get there.

Tips and Advice

The tips below are good to know before going to the Christmas Tea Lights event.

TIP #1: Seats on the boats are indoors, but they can still get cold. Be sure to dress warmly (including with gloves and even a toque on especially cold nights). At the camp, both the GloDomes and Nutcracker Hall are heated.

TIP #2: It’s best to arrive at the pier of your choice at least 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. For the full schedule of sailings in 2024, click Water Taxi Schedule.

TIP #3: If you catch the boat from Rocky Point Park in Port Moody, don’t park your car at the park as there is a 4-hour maximum time limit (and you likely won’t get back until five hours later). Instead, park at the nearby Moody Centre Park & Ride at 2916 Spring Street. It’s just a 10-minute walk away.

TIP #4: The boats and hill from the docks up to the venue are not wheelchair accessible.

TIP #5: There are no vegan dishes available at the event. However, if you’re vegan, you’re welcome to bring your own meal.

TIP #6: If you want to go to Christmas Tea Lights, book your spot as soon as you can. It’s a popular event and dates sell out, especially on Saturdays and Sundays.

TIP #7: To learn about a similar event happening in downtown Vancouver, check out our article about Winterlust at H Tasting Lounge.