More than 100,000 lights will turn on in Victoria Park Friday night as the City of London prepares to host its annual Lighting of the Lights celebration.
Trevor Johnson, the city’s special events manager and lead organizer for the event, said planning for the display and the ceremony has been underway for weeks. Park operations staff, along with manager Ryan Craven and a contracted private company, have spent much of November installing light strands and decorations throughout the downtown park.
“The park has a really robust electrical system because it’s been designed for major festivals like Sunfest and Home County,” Johnson said. “Wilson’s and Associates maintains that system and works with our parks team and the lighting contractor to get everything in place. It’s gone fairly smoothly.”
Adding lights for Lighting of the Lights in Victoria Park (Theodore Ramharack/XFM News)
Festivities for Friday’s hour-long event begin at 6 p.m., with live music from a locally built “all-star band” led by London singer-songwriter John Fellner, who Johnson describes as a rising talent. Fellner has been gaining national attention, including an appearance this week at Massey Hall for Andy Kim’s annual charity concert.
Joining the group are longtime London musicians Doug Vardy and Glenn Bennett. Bennett is expected to perform his song When the Lights Come On at Christmas, written specifically for the event and now considered part of its tradition.
A 360-degree photo booth, introduced last year, will return and offer free videos to visitors capturing the lights around them.
The official lighting is scheduled for 6:50 p.m. when Mayor Josh Morgan will flip the switch with invited guests John and Shereen Davidson, founders of Jesse’s Journey. This year marks the 30th anniversary of John Davidson’s walk across Ontario to raise money for Duchenne muscular dystrophy research. An effort that has since helped raise about $18 million.
The lights will remain on nightly until January 16th.
