Well, it's that wonderful time of the year once again and. in celebration of Christmas, I thought I'd bring some attention to these enjoyable holiday themed programs for your C64.

Probably one of the best known programs for your Commodore is the Christmas Demo, which was created for display in retail stores selling the C64. The music is really well done and very festive, with some classic animations to go along with them. One thing about this program is that, there seems to be a couple of versions of it out “in the wild”. I say this is because I've heard one version (played on YouTube) of this that just doesn't sound as good as the copy that I have. I'm not sure why this is (or if it's even a fact) but all I can say is that, the copy I have was originally taken from an official retailer's demo disk, here in Canada. So, it sounds the best on an NTSC C64, well at least I think so… and I can't guarantee that I'm not being biased in my opinion. ;o)

Anyway, the disk can be downloaded here (it's also very playable on the C64Mini): Christmas Store Demo.D64

This next program was published in Loadstar issue #115, and is called Christmas Cantata. It's a really well done Christmas music “jukebox” of sorts, with some very nice Christmas themed images to enjoy. Or, if you want to sing along, you can display each song's lyrics, rather than the pictures. This is a very festive program that you can have running in the background, as you visit with friends or opening your presents on Christmas morning. The music is really well composed and sound fantastic through the SID. It's also quite substantial, as total play time is about a half hour in duration.

It also sounds great on the C64Mini, if you're so inclined.

You can download the disk image with Christmas Cantata here: Christmas Cantata.D64

A Very Merry Christmas to ALL