The Enchanted Forest has become a serious Saskatoon holiday tradition over the years with the 2017-2018 display being the 19th show. Set up in the park area of the Forestry Farm, the display is a fundraising event for both the Saskatoon Zoo Foundation and the Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation. It’s interesting to read from their website that while the initial investment for the first displays cost $750,000, every year they’ve made about $200,000 for the two foundations. Not too shabby!

Normally, one would hop into their car with their family or friends and slowly drive their way around the displays, but the day before the official opening and the day after the official end, the Enchanted Forest is open to pedestrians.This makes it a perfect time to take photos. But in the past, I never bothered to take my DSLR thinking that it would be too clunky to haul around since a tripod would also be necessary. This year, I thought I’d give it a try.

Unfortunately, my first attempt was a disaster. On opening day, I bundled up nice a toasty, grabbed my gear, and made my way to the Forestry Farm. When I got to the entrance though, I was horrified to see the entrance road jam-packed with people. Usually it was so peaceful and quiet on these walks but apparently, my little secret got out and the city showed up in droves. Not the best conditions for photography. Or for people with sensitive dispositions. (I wonder if they’d be interested in holding a silent walk next year.)

The last walk of the year just happened to fall on the Orthodox Christmas which was rather perfect. After a day of presents and feasting, a good long walk is exactly what I needed! And the temperature was quite mild too which made it even easier to take photos. The pictures below are all unedited. Sure, many probably could have been cropped or rotated a bit. After all, it’s pretty tricky leveling out a tripod on a snowy patch in the dark. But overall, it was quite easy to shoot the displays so I didn’t think it was worth me messing around with them.