The Ladysmith Festival of Lights has announced changes to this year’s Light Up celebration.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no formal Light Up event. The Kinsmen Parade, street entertainment, fireworks, Light Up the Night arts show, the Eagle’s Spaghetti Dinner, and any other related activities have been cancelled.
The annual event regularly draws crowds of over 30,000 people to the streets of Ladysmith.
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Lights and rooftop decorations will be placed as usual during October and November, however the regular public set up day for the first Sunday of November has been cancelled to prevent large groups from gathering.
“We’re going to do our best to provide as good a Light Up as we possibly can,” Ladysmith Festival of Lights president, Alex Cook said.
Small groups of two or four individuals will be permitted to help with the set up of lights and decorations.
“They can be family members or close friends that are in each other’s bubbles. We can do that provided we don’t have too many groups out there,” Cook said.
“We’d separate groups in blocks and have them work at different ends. That way people won’t be gathering around.”
Volunteers are encouraged to wear masks while helping put up lights and decorations.
Anyone interested in assisting the Festival of Lights can contact Alex Cook at 250-245-5334 or Greg Edwards at 250-924-6970. Or visit ladysmithfol.com.