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Community Events Celebration Day Past Festivals Contacts Sponsors |
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Ladysmith Festival of Lights project initiated in 1987
when Bill Fitzpatrick and a couple of Ladysmith
Merchants agreed that new and more festive street
decorations were needed to complement Ladysmith's
successful heritage/revitalization project. Through
the creativity of these people, the Festival of Lights
was born and many hours, days and years of work began.
Festival Society incorporated in 1990. From the last Thursday in November until the first Sunday in January, Ladysmith, B.C. comes alive with shimmering lights. The early focus was to decorate the downtown core. This was soon changed to include the Coronation Mall and then to expand to the blocks surrounding the downtown area. The past couple of years has seen a great physical change to Ladysmith's downtown. This has created many new opportunities for the F.O.L. volunteers to create and add new lights and decorations. The Town of Ladysmith has been behind the Festival of Lights since its inception. Without that support, Ladysmith would certainly not be the Light Up Capital of Vancouver Island. Local businesses also throw their backing behind the Festival and many, many donations are received from them annually. A couple of years ago Island Farms Dairy became a corporate sponsor of the Festival of Lights. The Ladysmith and District Credit Union has always been a big supporter and every year they buy their entire staff Festival apparel to help promote our event.Service clubs and organizations such as the Rotary Club, Eagles, Coronation Mall Merchants and other groups have been major supporters for many years. In addition to their support, the Ladysmith Kinsmen Club has constructed a building to ensure the extensive decoration inventory will be stored safely between events, and there is ample room to repair and re-bulb the decorations. The Kinsmen also sponsor the Light Up Night Parade. Festival also acknowledges support and funds from the B.C. Gaming Commission. Probably the biggest "sponsors" though are the residents of Ladysmith. Over the years the ever increasing core of volunteers has gone the longest way in helping to make Ladysmith famous for its annual Light Up and its community spirit. For all of this assistance, the Festival of Lights is extremely grateful. |