The spirit of Christmas is one of the most magical feelings in the world. It’s the reason families put on layer-after-layer to go out in the frigid weather to find that perfect tree, or spend hours creating the perfect plate for Santa and his reindeer to eat when they bring packages. It’s the same reason so many children spend Christmas night wide awake in their beds waiting for the patter of feet on the roof. Christmas is a time for friends and family and being with the ones you love and for the creators of the River Lights festival, they wanted to do just that.
The River Lights Festival began with a few people who had a dream to light up the town and for the past 8 years, that’s exactly what the small city of Amherstburg has done. With each year bringing more and more of the Christmas spirit back to the historical township, the River Lights Festival has become more popular than anyone ever thought it would.
“It’s just not about the money,” says festival coordinator, Sarah Van Grinsven. “We just want to bring the spark back and bring back that magical holiday spirt that we all know and love.”
The festival’s kick-off night was November 15th featuring over two hundred displays, all powered by a huge sponsor of the festival. Enbridge, a large solar energy company in Canada, has donated 15,000 to the festival this year and will be the main power source of the festival and the lights spread out between the two main parks in Amherstburg. The light displays will stay up and lit until mid-January. The displays were found through the King’s Navel Yard Park, which features historical light displays while Toddy Jones Park offers more kids friendly displays like Mickey Mouse and cars.
“There are hundreds of lights”, says Van Grinsven. “This year, many of the businesses have also begun to put up light displays as well, and the dream is that in a few years, we will have the whole city lit up, 5-9 p.m. every night.”
The Saturday’s main event was the famous 5K charity Santa run, bringing in over 700 hundred families, friends and runners decked out in full Santa suits to participate in the chilly run. The red suits were also completely included with sign up and everyone who ran wore them, adding lights or decorations to them. Strollers with children and dogs also were in the race, bringing together the township with the spirit of Christmas. The funds raised went directly to Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA), a non-profit organization that takes care of parks, and wetlands. They’re only one of many partnerships the River Lights Festival was working with to pull off this incredible event.
The night also included a large screen outdoor movie for the kids, this year being Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, followed by a caroling and an official count down in Times Square right before the city lit up the Christmas tree and the rest of the light displays. Then guests were invited to get hot chocolate at the ginger bread warming room. The creators of the Festival did indeed transform the parks pavilion into a complete life sized ginger bread house, filled with smaller, more edible ginger bread houses of its own. There were giant candy lolly pops and paper snowflakes coming from the ceiling, as well as a chair in the corner for when Santa will visit throughout the season. There was also a craft station in the corner with colouring and fun activities for the kids. Free hot chocolate was handed out by Food and Fellowship Mission’s, who are volunteers from the township’s charity. The charity has a gently used clothing store and a food bank, which they took donations and canned food for at the gingerbread house. Finally, the night was ended with an outstanding fireworks show and a shout out from Santa to all the children.
“It’s really quite exciting. Our secret elves in the crowd are gonna ask the parents what are on their child’s Christmas list and then Santa’s gonna call out to them. ‘I see Suzy over there, in the red jacket, and you asked for princess dolls, and I promise I’ll have those for you.’ …Its just to rekindle the magic for them and bring back the magic. ” said Van Grinsven. She explained that a lot of kids are on the fence about Christmas and they want to bring the belief back for them. In total, the Amherstburg River Lights Festival brought in over ten thousand people on opening night and each year, more people attend.
Van Grinsven doesn’t believe there’s much competition because of the cold and that’s one of the main reason they do so well. “Families come from past our borders, even as far as Sarnia and Detroit. Our marketing actually takes place in Detroit.”
The holiday house tours, a new addition to the event, brought in 1200 people in two days to take a look at the professionally decorated homes. The event also hosts a brand new event on the December 5th and 6th weekend called the holiday village. They have events like a winter petting zoo and a chance to see Santa with real reindeer and his sleigh.
“We have lots of partnerships with community members as well, offering many opportunities to give back to the town.” says Van Grinsven. In her family, Christmas was very important. “Christmas was everything, a time for family and being together. We’re making the biggest difference in many children’s lives. It’s really hard to measure, but you can definitely see it each year when the festival comes around. Those smiles mean everything.”