It's taken a little while to put it together but I've finally concluded that the designers have in fact been very kind and this event is in fact their very clever response to our recent complaints about the almost continuous series of events and activities, and the need for an occasional break.
So they've given us an event that we can just ignore completely if we want to, or at least not make any major efforts, with less risk of FOMO; anyone who wants, can participate, anyone who feels the need of some downtime can happily take it.
I've skipped the event completely in Beta (based on early feedback), didn't even collect the evolving building, and the only pretty little ribbon that I've collected is one I stumbled over while traversing ... they look so lovely that I'm leaving them around to decorate my Winter city
Haven't regretted the choice, been happily city-building meanwhile, and will do mostly the same on live ... may indulge in curiosity (watch out, pussycat) and tinker with it in one world until I lose interest, then again, maybe not.
So, thank you so much Inno, for an early Christmas present ... time to devote to whatever I want or need to do, at what is always a quite busy time of year.
Merry Christmas to you all!