Stratford is keeping the lights on for an extra weekend.
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Stratford is keeping the lights on for an extra weekend.
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The city’s second annual winter festival of lights has been extended to include the final weekend in January, tourism officials announced Friday.
“Lights On Stratford has been a bright light and symbol of hope for our community during this difficult time,” said Zac Gribble, executive director of Destination Stratford. “We’re delighted to extend the festival to include the last weekend of January to provide even more opportunity for folks to safely enjoy this magical experience.”
The winter festival first launched last year as part of an effort to make Stratford a tourism destination outside of the theater season.
Its first edition – which featured a unique light show designed by local artists and projected onto the façade of the Stratford’s iconic city hall – was recognized last year with an Ontario Tourism Resiliency Award.
This year, the festival generated buzz by offering Market Square to an Australian public art display called the Sky Castle, an interactive light and sound exhibit created to celebrate the easing of lockdown restrictions in Melbourne.
Another of this year’s major attractions, a large solar system exhibit on Tom Patterson Island, caught the attention of seven-year-old Jaxon Brooks, who gave organizers a hand when he noticed that Neptune and Uranus were in the wrong positions.
There are two other major displays at the Shakespearean Gardens and the Avon Theatre, plus 14 smaller displays at storefronts across the city. A map is available online at lightsonstratford.ca.