Festival of Lights set for busy opening day
Christmas celebration kicks off Saturday with day of events leading to flipping of the switch
Three million-plus lights will be switched on Saturday evening for the official launch of the Festival of Lights.
But the celebration starts much earlier, with a full day of family events at Queen Victoria Park near the falls starting at 11 a.m.
The list of events stretches throughout the day, leading up to the Flip the Switch ceremony at 7:45 p.m. when all the lights go on, followed by a fireworks show over the falls at 8 p.m.
“Our goal is to create an expe-
rience that everybody will fondly remember,” said festival executive director Tina Myers.
She said the festival “has evolved in recent years, with new lights, displays, entertainment and signature events” and last year it attracted 1.6 million visitors. Sponsored by Ontario Power Generation, the festival first opened in 1982 and now bills itself as North America’s largest illumination festival.
There’s no cost to viewers, but donations from people touring in cars and buses are accepted by festival volunteers at the exit from Dufferin Islands.
This year’s festival runs from Nov. 3 to Jan. 31 and showcases more than 100 lighted displays stretching eight kilometres from Dufferin Islands and the Niagara Parkway, through the Fallsview area and Clifton Hill to Lundy’s Lane.
Some of the highlights of the daytime activities include ice sculpting demonstrations in the park starting at 11 a.m., a meetand-greet for kids with Paw Patrol characters from noon to 4 p.m. and MiniPop Kids Live at 1 and 3:30 p.m.
All-day activities include face painting, food trucks, visits by Canadian Olympians, large-sized games of chess and X’s and O’s, maple syrup tasting and Heartland Forest Express train rides for children.
A full schedule of events for Saturday is online at wfol.com.
Live entertainment on the main stage starts at 4:15 with Leah Daniels, Beverly Mahood and Friends at 5 p.m. and the Julian Taylor Band at 6:30 p.m.
“We have (lighting) installations coming from around the world by different artists,” said Myers.
“We have one called Impulse, it will be 16 illuminated seesaws through Queen Victoria Park, so the young and the young at heart can play on these giant teetertotters that get brighter in intensity when they’re in movement.”