The Brantford Lights at Glenhyrst will mark its 10th anniversary when the switch is flicked on Dec. 2, turning the art gallery grounds into a holiday spectacle.
About 33,500 visitors toured the 16-acre Ava Road grounds last year set aglow with an estimated 90,000 lights.
The light show will be on from 6 pm to 9 pm nightly until Jan. 1.
City of Brantford parks staff have been working for weeks stringing lights and setting up displays.
“The crew always has something up their sleeves to make it wonderful,” Ana Olson, gallery director, said about the potential for new displays.
While the pandemic made the Brantford Lights a strictly drive-through event in 2020, this is the second year visitors will be able to stroll the grounds.
The official lights “switch on” will be held Dec. 2 at 7 pm It also will be the official opening of the Vibrant Palette Student Exhibit. More than 400 pieces of art made by local students will be on display throughout the duration of the light show.
Other happenings include:
- The gallery will be open to visitors on Thursday and Friday evenings before Christmas from 6 o’clock to 8 o’clock.
- The Merry Little Market, with one-of-a-kind artisan vendors, will be set up on Dec. 2 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
- The Ugly Mug will be serving gourmet hot chocolate from its drink truck on Friday and Saturday evenings.
- Rumple and Friends will host Santa’s Secret Hideout, a children’s interactive program, in the Cottage on the afternoons of Dec. 10, 11, 17 and 18.
- The Golden Teapot is taking reservations for Twilight Tea bookings so patrons can watch the lights turn on while enjoying high tea.
Admission to the gallery and the light show is free, but donations are accepted. Collection bins will be available for donations to the Brantford food bank.
Parking on the gallery grounds is limited.
The Glenhyrst property, once owned by Edmund Cockshutt, a son of Cockshutt Plow Company magnate Ignatius Cockshutt, was bequeathed to the municipality in 1956 for all city residents to enjoy.
The Brantford Lights began in 2012 when Joysey Street resident Jeff MacDonald moved an extensive light display at his home to the gallery grounds.