ALEXANDRIA, Ontario – After a one year hiatus, the annual Bright Nights festival will return to Alexandria’s Island Park this December.
Starting on Dec. 1 after the annual Christmas parade which will begin that day at 6 p.m., there will be a tree lighting ceremony and fireworks over Mill Pond in Island Park starting at 7:30 p.m.
“The cancellation of Alexandria’s Festival of Lights left a hole in our community. The Festival was founded by Ron Aubin in 2006 and it grew from a small collection of lights to become a dazzling display that united our entire community during the Christmas season. I am proud to report that the lighting display will be returning to Island Park this year as a municipal event. The Bright Nights Festival will launch on December 1 and at the suggestion of Councillor Jacques Massie, Council agreed that the lights should continue to illuminate the park through the dark nights of February,” said North Glengarry Mayor Jamie MacDonald.
After the cancellation of the festival in 2018, Kirk MacMilland of KMAC Electric offered to donate some of his company’s electrical expertise in support of returning the festival this year. The festival is being run and organized by KMAC Electric in partnership with the Township of North Glengarry.
“It’s going to be a more modest display of lights than was featured by the Festival of Lights, but it is the hope of the municipality that this new event can grow with time to reach the glowing success of its predecessor. Volunteer organizations are urged to contact the municipality if they are interested in participating in organizing future iterations of this event,” said Mayor MacDonald.
Also helping out with the Bright Nights festival will be the Glengarry Arts Collective, who will be developing three interactive displays that will be a part of the festival. KMAC Electric will begin setting up the Bright Nights festival on Oct. 19 and once lit the festival will continue throughout the month of December.
