Ladysmith lights the way
On First Avenue, named Canada’s best street, Santa flips on display for thousands
When Ladysmith’s main street lit up from one end to the other on Thursday night, Christmas came alive for a generation raised on the tradition.
“A lot of people tell me Christmas doesn’t start until they’ve done light-up,” said Festival of Lights president Duck Paterson.
Santa flipped the switch at 6:30 p.m. and hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights along the town’s 12-block main street were set aglow.
More than 20,000 people packed the sidewalks of First Avenue to watch the spectacle on its 30th anniversary.
The event was intended to be a local event to encourage people to shop in downtown Ladysmith but grew into something much bigger, Paterson said.
Businessman Bill Fitzpatrick organized the first festival in 1987, tying up a few strings of lights and erecting some animated Santas in the hope of boosting the downtown economy. Three decades later, the event is one of Vancouver Island’s largest and most popular light parades.
“There’s a whole generation of families that have now grown up with light-up,” Paterson said.
“It’s become something that was never imagined.”
A tribute to Fitzpatrick, who died this summer of cancer, was made during the light-up.
Fifteen minutes after the lights went on, a parade of more than 86 floats rolled through town. The finale was the lighting of the town’s main tree and a fireworks display — a $13,000 blast of colour and sound funded by the Ladysmith and District Credit Union.
The festival, which continues until Jan. 10, is expected to bring thousands to Ladysmith as tourists and shoppers. The town’s First Avenue was recently named Canada’s best street by the Canadian Institute of Planners.
Tammy Leslie, treasurer of group that puts on the festival, said the budget for decorations alone is $35,000, with $18,000 for bulbs and garland. The bulk of the funding comes from the Cowichan Valley Regional District, the town of Ladysmith and provincial gaming grants.
Mayor Aaron Stone said he grew up going to light-up and now brings his own kids. It’s an event like no other, he said.