Six Ways To Celebrate New Years Like A Local

Goodbye 2021!

If we’ve learned any lessons in 2021, hopefully one is the importance of our community.  Whether it be front line workers who care for us, restaurants & food suppliers who feed us, local vintners, brewers and distillers whose wares give us something to toast with, and our local businesses and artisans who are really the backbone of our community – we’ve rallied together these past months and we are ready to look ahead together.

The new year – full of possibilities – lays before us and to help ring it in safely this year, we’ve put together a list of how you can celebrate like a local!

TAKE A SELFIE WITH THE FAMILY

Whether it’s with friends or family, we have great options to grab a pic this year to use for your 2022 Christmas card! Visit any of the four light festivals in the region – open daily & free to visit! Click visitwindsoressex.com/lights and check out the four options: Bright Lights in Windsor, River Lights in Amherstburg, Holiday Lights & Heritage Nights in LaSalle or Fantasy of Lights in Kingsville. There are literally millions of twinkling lights for you to explore.

CELEBRATE WITH SEASONAL BREWS & SPIRITS!

Craft beer lovers can get ready to cheers with one of the local seasonal brews from our Barrels Bottles & Brews Trail partners, including:

• Banded Goose Brewing Company Creme Brulee Stout
• Chapter Two Brewing Company Belsnickel Barleywine
• Lot 10 Brewing Company Fireside Rauchbier
• Walkerville Brewery English Toffee Stout
• Wolfhead Distillery Pot Still Rye Whisky

If you prefer a traditional pint or spirit instead, stock your bar and order from our Barrels Bottles Brews partners for delivery or curbside pick up!

Order In

With reduced capacity for in-person dining, what better way to welcome a fresh new year than with a sparkling clean kitchen! Forget the mess and order up your favourites from our local restaurants, prepared food shops or caterers for your New Year’s Eve at home celebrations.  Check out our Takeout & Delivery Guide for local options near you – sorted by town or by type.  Try something new or stick with the tried and true – it’s the perfect night to over-order so that you don’t have to cook on New Year’s Day either!

Tip: place your order in advance. A lot of your favourite places are jam packed with dinner orders and some times can’t even pick up the phone for orders after 5pm.

RING IN 2022 AT A PARTY

If you want to head out and about check out our New Year’s Eve Guide for places holding special events to ring in 2022. Dinners, drinks and family fun – we got it covered for you!

CHEERS WITH LOCAL BUBBLY

Nothing says Happy New Year like a toast with something bubbly! We are lucky to have such diverse sparkling options in our EPIC Wine Region. Pick up a bottle in advance, including options like:

• Colio Estate Winery Sparkling Lily and Sparkling Lily Rose
• Muscedere Vineyards Sparkling Rose
• Oxley Estate Winery Lucky Blue
• Pelee Island Winery LOLA Secco
• VIN Winery Sparkling Rose

Make it easy on yourself and order some local vintages straight to your door with our EPIC Winery Delivery Guide.

CELEBRATE WITH A STAYCATION

Plan ahead for early 2022 – and use our Boxing Day Flash Sale to save on your staycation. Available now – book a room at any of our participating hotels and you’ll save up to 20% off the room rate AND receive a bonus $50 VISA gift card when you check in. Use it to splurge on dinner, head to a local shop, or pick up a bottle of bubbly as you celebrate your vacation close to home! Rates are valid through March Break*.

Hopefully there are some things that we can be be thankful for this year – exploring our home town and neighbouring communities, spending more time outside and at home with the ones that we love, creating those recipes we’ve been dying to try with locally grown foods, supporting local shops and businesses and ordering takeout from our favourite restaurants and maybe a few new ones too.

Here we are at the doorstep of 2022 – let’s say hello to a new year filled with hope and possibilities and continue to #SupportLocal.

*Dates, discount, black out dates, offer and availability vary per hotel. Please check out visitwindsoressex.com/boxingday for full details.

Sponsored story by Tourism Windsor Essex. For more details on Tourism Windsor Essex click their website, or visit them on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.