The first day of the Christmas season was October 21st and Moose Jaw celebrated with its annual weekend event of Christmas In October.

Dozens of shops and restaurants volunteer to stay open late and invite in customers for specialized products, food, drinks, and entertainment.

Michaela Turner who is the Secretary of the Down Town Moose Jaw Association says the weekend was a huge success from what she could tell as a local shopper in the event.

"I have never seen so many people support local and it was so fantastic to see so many different groups and all ages (that are) local, as well as some tourists, out supporting our stores," says Turner.

She emphasized how hard the shops worked to prepare for this big weekend and that she was so happy to see them excited for the event and to see the support giving them hope after all of the hard times of the pandemic.

One of the many places that were open during the weekend was the Yvette Moore Gallery.

Yvette Moore herself was so enchanted by the people that came through her gallery, "I think one of the things that was really gratifying about it all is the mood of everybody. All the customers and everybody coming through were just so happy to see something like this happen."

Since the event was people walking from shop to shop, Moore also said that it was still an open environment where people could feel safe walking around to all the different places.

The event is to encourage people to shop locally and to go support family, friends, and neighbors who operate small businesses especially during this time of year and during the hard times of the pandemic.