The Town of Blackfalds will be hosting a winter wonderland that began with the lighting of trees on Nov. 20.
The decision to cancel the annual Light Up Blackfalds event was made because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The winter wonderland will be held in its place.
The lights will be on display in the town for the duration of the holiday season from Nov. 20 until Jan. 7.
In a normal year, the event would have hot chocolate, caroling, and dance performances but that all had to be put aside to accommodate public health orders.
“Each year, I see more families walking through our winter wonderland - laughing, joking, and enjoying the lights and the music. This year will be no different,” said Richard Poole, Mayor of Blackfalds, in a release on Friday.
Visitors will be able to enjoy the new event at their leisure and take in the music and lights whenever they want for the duration of the display.
The lights are already setup in Tayles Park and have around 120,000 lightbulbs working in the display.
Every year, Shaun Knowles programs the bulbs to show a different light performance and this year is no exception.
Knowles, who is the Park Operator, said his family always looks forward to taking in the festival and light displays.
“In the season that we have had this year, with everything being so different, it’s nice to have some normalcy; having lights at Christmas time is a big part of the enjoyment of the season. I get comments upon comments just as we’re setting the park up about how excited the community is,” said Knowles in a press release.
There will be both a static light show and a music show. The difference is that during the music show the lights will appear to dance to different themes. Last year, the theme was Disney and this year the show will feature Home Alone. Once the main theme performance is over the lights will continue to dance along to Christmas carols.
The light show will run Monday to Sunday from 5 p.m. until dawn and the music show will take place Sunday to Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. The music show will also run Friday and Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m.