Underway since the day after Thanksgiving, the Festival of Lights at Phillips Park in Aurora is set to close for the season on Sunday, Dec. 28.
The free drive-thru show, which is open daily from 5 to 9 p.m., features dozens of light displays at the park at 1000 Ray Moses Drive.
This marks the fourth season the city of Aurora has taken on the event after it was organized for years by the Aurora Rotary Club.
Mike Nelson, director of special events for the city of Aurora, said traffic through the park has been steady during the festival.
“We’re on schedule to hit our goal which is 25,000 cars for the entire season,” he said.
Through Sunday, Dec. 21, Nelson said about 19,000 vehicles had come through the park.
“The goal is always 25,000 per season and we may even pass that,” he said. “We’ll know the final totals next week. The mild weather is absolutely drawing more people this year. This event and this display is always weather dependent and when you’ve got decent weather, traffic is always up. We’re experiencing that.”
Nelson said he has worked at the park collecting donations and has seen clear evidence of the regional draw of the display.
“There aren’t many drive-thru light displays anymore in the area and we get people from all over,” he said. “I volunteer several times a year to man the donation area and I’m always talking to people. As someone who has worked for the city for more than 10 years, I enjoy learning about people and where they are coming from. In my opinion many are coming from neighboring as well as towns that are farther away.”
Nelson said that nothing new was added this year at the festival but noted that “things are running well. It’s such a treasured tradition for so many Aurorans and so many people outside the city.”
“Our goal next year, however, is to really come out swinging with some new installations, some new music, but this year, we’re just keeping it classic,” he said. “It’s the ’90s nostalgia which is really coming back – ’90s nostalgia Christmas is now really trending in the United States and this is giving those vibes. I was a kid born in the early ’90s, so I’m kind of privy to that.”
Nelson reflected on displays that seem to slow traffic and highlighted the Weisner Ice Skating Rink display near the Phillips Park Visitors Center.
“That’s always a classic,” he said of the display. “People love that. It’s cute. It gives you the Charlie Brown aspect. It’s a fan favorite for sure. That and people love the snowflake forest that is hanging – like hundreds of snowflakes as you continue to drive on Ray Moses – people love that too.”
Donations collected as vehicles leave the park will be used by the city to maintain the current display collection as well as “add a few new items next year,” he said.
“We’re going to use a decent percentage of this year’s donations to one, maintain our current light displays, and two, make some room for some new light displays,” Nelson said. “Next year, our goal is to add several new installations including a new radio system.”
In previous years, a special radio frequency was assigned which allowed visitors to the park to tune in to a holiday soundtrack that was provided during the roughly one-mile ride through the installations.
Problems with the software which was tested before the Nov. 28 opening made that impossible this year, Nelson said.
“We had to make the decision to not move forward with it this year,” he said. “There’s quite a bit that goes into that, and we decided to let people listen to whatever Christmas music or holiday music they wanted during the experience.”
Nelson promised that next year “we’re going to have something really special – state-of-the-art music.”
Motorists are asked to enter the event on Smith Boulevard at Fifth Avenue, organizers said. For more information, go to www.aurora-il.org/FestivalofLights.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
