Winter Festival of Lights

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The festival in 2020 on Niagara Parkway Niagara-Parkway-.jpg
The festival in 2020 on Niagara Parkway

The Winter Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is Canada's largest lights festival. [1] It runs from mid-November to mid-January and attracts over one million visitors annually. [2] The event has free admission while accepting voluntary donations. As of 2023, it features a decorated eight-kilometre route along the Niagara Parkway that extends into the tourist districts and the Dufferin Islands. [3] The lights are installed and run by Ontario Power Generation. [4]

Contents

History

The Winter Festival of Lights was founded in 1982 with the mandate of developing tourism in Niagara Falls during the winter months. [4] Its creation was inspired by a lights festival that started in Niagara Falls, New York, in 1981, [5] that was also intended attract tourists to Niagara Falls during the off-season. This separate event in New York was held annually until 2001. [6] The early editions of the festivals competed with the New York event and did not perform as well as their counterpart. [7] Recurring themes in the annual displays are a variety of designs. Religious displays have included a Hanukkah menorah, Noah's Ark, and Hajj. [8] Recurring sections of the route include areas dubbed the "Royal Promenade", "Frosted Falls", "Enchanted Forest" and "Great Canadian North". [9]

In 1999, The Walt Disney Company began partnering with the event, allowing for the illuminated display of Disney characters. [10] During this partnership, a section of the route in Queen Victoria Park contained these animated displays as "Enchantment of Disney". [11] This partnership continued until 2013, when Disney made the decision to limit depictions of these characters to their own theme parks. [12] Korean lanterns replaced the Disney displays for 2014, [13] to celebrate fifty years of diplomatic relations between Canada and South Korea. [14] Other themed light displays have since replaced where the Disney displays were previously held. [12] The 2024 event had 75 light displays which were composed of three million individual lights. [15]

See also

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References

  1. Mitchell, Don. "Niagara Fall's Festival of Lights features 51 nights of illumination for free". Global News. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  2. "Winter Festival of Lights launches 32nd season". Niagara Falls Review. "Niagara Falls approves $300K in funding for Winter Festival of Lights". Niagara This Week.
  3. "Frequently asked questions". Winter Festival of Lights. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 Hutton, Richard. "OPG Winter Festival of Lights ramps up for milestone season". Niagara This Week. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  5. "History of Winter Festival of Lights: Info Niagara".
  6. Ventry, Robert. "Remembering The Festival of Lights". Niagara Falls Reporter. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  7. Law, John. "Disney's gone, but our Festival of Lights is still first-rate". Niagara This Week. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  8. Brennan, James. "Winter puts on quite a show at Niagara Falls". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  9. Mehrabi, Kimia. "Niagara Falls planning unreal lights ceremony this year". BlogTO . Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  10. Fleming, Liz. "One million expected for Niagara festival". Toronto Star. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  11. "Winter Festival of Lights kicks off Saturday". Niagara This Week. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  12. 1 2 "About the festival". Niagara Falls Winter Festival of Lights. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  13. Hutton, Richard. "The Year that was in Niagara Falls — Part 4". NiagaraThisWeek. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  14. "History of the Winter Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls, Canada". Cliftonhill.com. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  15. Spiteri, Ray. "Winter Festival of Lights to shine in Niagara Falls again this season". Niagara Falls Review. Retrieved 9 December 2024.