A mainstay of the holiday season in Windsor, this year’s Bright Lights festival opens next week with a handful of new displays and a licensed area for food and drinks.
In an announcement Monday, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said this year’s festival is “bigger, better and brighter.”
“This celebration of our community continues to bring people together to enjoy the holiday season in an unforgettable and engaging way while highlighting giving opportunities through community organizations, supporting local vendors and artisans and so much more,” he said. “That remains the magic formula of what we’ve created here.”
New this year is The Chalet, a licensed tented area within the market portion of Bright Lights that will offer food and drinks in a partnership with WindsorEats. The Chalet will be open Thursday to Sunday.
Also new this year is a display themed around the Northern Lights, featuring “diffused lighting in purple, green, blue and magenta,” large-scale displays and an inflatable igloo tunnel with projections.
Other new displays include a fireworks light display and Henry, a giant five-metre tall moose.
This year, the display will also extend to Ouellette Avenue this year with decorative lighting on portions of the main street. The new lights were a partnership with the Downtown Windsor BIA.
The W.E. Made It holiday market will return on Friday and Saturday night, as will returning fan-favourite displays like Wish Upon a Star, W.E. the North, Candy Cane Lane, Merry and Bright and Santa’s Workshop, among others.
The theme is “A Season to Shine.”
Bright Lights will offer a sensory-friendly night on Mondays, when sound and strobe elements will be muted to accommodate sensory sensitivities.
The festival will officially open on Friday, Nov. 29 at 6:30 p.m. Once open, Bright Lights will run from 5:30 to 10 p.m. until Jan. 7.
On Dec. 5, join CBC Windsor News at 6 for a live broadcast from Bright Lights beginning at 5:30 p.m. Drop by and take our brief survey for a chance to win an exclusive CBC swag and support our Make the Season Kind campaign.
