BANFF NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 85

campfire talks, and lectures. For details, drop by the Banff Visitor Centre (403/762-1550),
or look for postings on campground bulletin boards.
Fall
Fall is the park's quietest season, but it's busiest in terms of festivals and events. First
of the fall events, on the last Saturday in September, Melissa's Road Race
( www.melissasroadrace.ca ) attracts more than 2,000 runners (the race sells out months in
advance) in 10- and 22-kilometer (6- and 14-mile) races.
One of the year's biggest events is the Banff Mountain Film Festival, held on the
first weekend of November. Mountain-adventure filmmakers from around the world sub-
mit films to be judged by a select committee. Films are then shown throughout the week-
end to an enthusiastic crowd of thousands. Exhibits and seminars are also presented, and
top climbers and mountaineers from around the world are invited as guest speakers.
Tickets to the Banff Mountain Film Festival go on sale one year in advance and sell out
quickly. Tickets for daytime shows start at $45 (for up to 10 films). Night shows are from
$38, and all-weekend passes cost around $180 (weekend passes with two nights' accom-
modations and breakfasts start at a reasonable $350). Films are shown in the two theat-
ers of the Banff Centre (St. Julien Rd.). For more information, contact the festival office
(403/762-6675); for tickets, contact the Banff Centre box office (403/762-6301 or 800/
413-8368, www.banffcentre.ca ). If you miss the actual festival, it hits the road on the Best
of the Festival World Tour. Look for it in your town, or check out www.banffcentre.ca for
venues and dates.
Starting in the days leading up to the film festival, then running in conjunction with it,
is the Banff Mountain Book Festival, which showcases publishers, writers, and photo-
graphers whose work revolves around the world's great mountain ranges. Tickets can be
bought to individual events ($16-30), or there's a Book Festival Pass ($130) and a pass
combining both festivals ($280).
Winter
By mid-December, lifts at all local winter resorts are open. Santa Claus makes an appear-
ance on Banff Avenue at noon on the last Saturday in November; if you miss him there,
he usually goes skiing at each of the local resorts on Christmas Day. Events at the resorts
continue throughout the long winter season, among them World Cup Downhill skiing at
Lake Louise in late November. Snow Days is a monthlong celebration starting mid-Janu-