Just before Christmas, I pedalled over to a Christmas gingerbread display at Hyatt Hotel in downtown Vancouver. The hotel hosts this public event, an annual Christmas gingerbreadscape competition and showcase. Fun cookie and icing sugar-candy festooned scenery, are lovingly shaped by groups ranging from schoolchildren to aspiring chef students at the Pacific Culinary Institute.

The gingerbread dominant lobby was humming with visitors marvelling at gingerbread towers tall and small, while others peered into child-fingered, wobbly gingerbread dreamscapes.

Lobby furniture and lighting was even rejigged along with festive decorations, to grace the cookie structures. People milled around a Gastown inspired gingerbread street light against an artist-drawn chalkscape of favourite downtown Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Of course the culinary school’s entry was in good shape –outdoor snack stand, pastry shop lining a little town square with Santa, bundled up pedestrians and a winter carousel. There was even a gingerbread bike parked at the back of a building. How Vancouver-like.
I spotted a gingerbread dollhouse with aerial views into tiny house rooms squished with gingerbread furniture, figurines in a kitchen, a study and even a library with study tables of books. The dollhouse compound looked heavily fondant
loaded on top of cookie crust. What were the rules for this contest? Nevertheless, miniature dishes, wall map in the study and staircase were teeny-tiny fine details of wonder.
Of course, there was a school entry of playful whales in winter wonderland city –a snowy cheer to Pacific coast nature. Every participant must have had fun shaping their gingerbread dreamscapes.

In every gingerbread creation I saw, was an unabashed attempt to capture child-like magic of festive Christmas memories and hopes. May we hold those hopes, every year and every season.
Warmest wishes for a memorable Christmas!

What a fascinating display! And even edible! 😉
Have a happy pre-Christmas time,
Pit
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Pit, the trick is not eating too much in advance. I’m happy to look at gingerbreadscapes…it may be stale. 🙂
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🙂
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Thank you for sharing with us the magic of the gingerbread dreamscapes! I like your photo essay very much!
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It draws a lot of visitors and locals into that hotel lobby.. Merry Christmas!
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Oh my gosh! This is amazing! I want to just camp out there overnight and eat everything. Great post!
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Hey drop by with your bicycle into this gingerbread wonderland. 🙂 Warm wishes for festive season and peace.
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So much gingerbread and sweets all over. They make me want something sweet now. Very nice for school kids and aspiring chefs to pitch in and make such a festive sight. Must have taken hours and hours. I wonder what happens to all of it after Christmas…
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After Christmas, probably gets recycled in a biological way. 🙂 At the least the gingerbread art gave pleasure to thousands of people. It is a great way for a business to give back to the community. For certain someone who have had a coordination and outreach effort months before for each different group.
Merry Christmas Mabel. What do have planned for holidays?
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I was actually thinking maybe those creations get eaten but well, common sense tells me that being on show for so long might not make it all too good and safe to eat. Who knows.
I’ve got nothing planned for the holidays. This time of the year I prefer to have a quiet one and sit back, relax, sleep.
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What beautiful creations Jean! ❤
Diana xo
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Even though I used to live in Vancouver for several years, I never bothered to see this annual ever-changing display.
Peace be with you, Diana.
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peace to you too Jean. It’s funny, often it takes a tourist in Calgary to tell me what our city offers! ❤
Diana xo
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🙂
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Warmest wishes to you too. Christmas is special for many reasons.
The gingerbread creations are awesome.
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Hi livelytwist! My wishes for a special Christmas for you and your family. The gingerbread creations are an annual charity fundraiser for Children’s Wish ..I think that’s for children with long term diseases..ie. cancer. etc. A sister of mine works in the pediatric cancer wardfor a very large pediatric hospital in downtown Toronto and would be aware of all this sort of stuff.
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I’ve got to visit this! How amazing and cute!!! Thanks for the heads up. 🙂
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Yup. It’s the Hyatt near /on Burrard St. Merry Christmas, Ariel!
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Merry Christmas to you, too!!
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Wow! The amount of hard work and creativity that must go into it is astounding! They look splendid 🙂
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No doubt,it was probably fun for each of these groups to finish their gingerbread wonderscapes. 🙂 Merry Christmas, Zee.
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Thank you Jean, same to you 🙂
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Wow. How gorgeous. I enjoyed this post and its photos very much. Thank You.
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Jean I have never seen gingerbread houses even close to these creative and intricate ones. Wonderful creations capturing childlike joy of the season. I wonder if they get eaten after the display?
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This year’s creations had a few less spectacular designs. However there was one ..which might be highlighted next year. It’s an annual charity fundraiser also.
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