A popular northwest skating pond has reopened just in time for the holiday season.

Hundreds of people took to the lagoon ice in Bowness Park on Christmas Eve, rekindling a winter tradition which had been temporarily halted by the flooding of the Bow River in June 2013.

At noon, the lagoon officially reopened for skating. The unseasonably warm weather was an added bonus for the crowd.

“It’s a beautiful day,” said Paul Verhooef. “We came out with my family, the wife and our three kids, along with her sister from Seattle and her family.”

“It was a great day for skating. My son asks for it every day.”

While smiles were commonplace on the ice and around the park’s firepits, the lack of sticks and pucks was a minor drawback for one young skater.

“It’s fun because I kinda like skating,” said Nash. “Hockey I prefer, but skating for fun is fine.”

Skating has been a tradition at Bowness Park since 1911, the year the park first opened.