Keeping festival running wouldn’t jibe with stay home message

Winter Festival of Lights ends early to align with provincewide shutdown

The decision to end this season’s Winter Festival of Lights early — two days after officials said it would continue through the provincial shutdown — shows how quickly mindsets can change during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The fact that there was such a difference between Monday and Wednesday also reflects the impact of COVID, how all year we’ve had five scenarios, five plans for every approach, five different approaches, and how things change hour by hour and day by day, so everyone’s adapting,” said Janice Thomson, president of Niagara Falls Tourism.

Despite saying Monday the popular festival would continue to shine bright during the provincial shutdown — which began Boxing Day and runs until Jan. 23 — officials behind the free outdoor light show announced Wednesday that it would end after Wednesday night.

The festival was scheduled to run nightly from 5 p.m. to midnight until Jan. 10 but was closed early to align with provincial shutdown measures and echo the public-health message to stay home.

Thomson said there are “two lenses” to look through when deciding what to do.

“The first was the one that we’ve looked through always, that it’s actually a display of lights, it wasn’t one of the new, organized, drive-thru, ticketed, gated events where people actually went into a set area,” she said.

“It’s 38 years of history, so it’s known as … just a display and you see it when you drive on the streets, whether it’s on the (Niagara) Parkway or other streets around the city.”

But, Thomson said, that “runs counter” to political and health officials telling everyone to stay home during another provincewide shutdown.

“We were really believing it was working for locals and we still believe that, that it’s a very joyful thing and that it doesn’t impact the safety,” she said.

“But if we look at it strictly through that one question, how does it relate to telling people to stay home — it doesn’t pass that test.”

This year’s festival, which kicked off Nov. 14, saw a 12 per cent increase in car traffic over last year.

It transformed Niagara Falls into a winter wonderland with three million lights and displays decorating Niagara Parkway, Dufferin Islands and local streets.

Thomson said the decision to end the festival early was made after a discussion between Niagara Falls Tourism and Niagara Parks Commission officials. The festival is organized by Niagara Falls Tourism, through a land-use agreement with Niagara Parks Commission.

“This year, there were no interactive displays, there were no opening ceremonies, there were no gatherings, there were no organized times when you’ll be in the park at this time to experience x, none of that was offered this year,” said Thomson.

“We had discontinued all of our advertising for the festival for the last couple of weeks. For over a month, we haven’t been advertising in any of the red or grey zones, so we were very conscious of those limits that were set up and we were trying to manage that.”

Thomson said the decision to end the festival the night before New Year’s Eve — a typically busy night in the heart of the city’s tourism district — was coincidental.

“I would say that was coincidental. But with only10 days left in the festival, I understand that some locals will be upset,” she said.

“I did read a lot on social media (Wednesday) night — you’ve got mixed reactions. You’ve got people saying, ‘that’s terrific, that’s good, that’s as it should be,’ and ‘it’s regrettable,’ and I certainly say it is regrettable.”