From the Niagara Falls Review:
Visits to this past season’s Winter Festival of Lights were up 17%, says program director Tina Myers.
Despite the 32nd annual festival being three weeks shorter than past years, organizers noticed more vehicles going in and out of Dufferin Islands, which is one of the event’s focal points.
“It went really well, especially since this was the first year of a multi-year transition,” said Myers.
This season’s festival, sponsored by Ontario Power Generation, ran from Nov. 15 to Jan. 12. New this year was the addition of 13 Canadian wildlife illuminations and a 20-foot-tall illumination designed to resemble a water fountain at Dufferin Islands. The large illuminated water feature in the middle of the pond and the trees were lit in projection lighting that changes colours in sync with music.
The festival usually attracts 1.5 million visitors each year and has an annual budget of about $1 million, most of which goes to lighting, maintenance and storage.
See also:
- Niagara Falls Review – Falls commits $600K towards new WFOL program
- Niagara This Week – Niagara Falls approves $300K in funding for Winter Festival of Lights