Winter Festival of Lights

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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]

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]

See also

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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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.
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