The Festival of Lights will be about 220,000 bulbs brighter this year with the addition of Jingle Lights in Montesano’s Fleet Park.
The 32nd Festival of Lights, put on by the Montesano Chamber of Commerce, is Dec. 7, 8 and 9.
Ken Collins, a retired tugboater, donated the Jingle Lights display to the city. He used to put on the show at his Central Park home, where the lights appeared last year. Travis Davis, who works for the Sheriff’s Department, was helping Collins set up the lights Wednesday, Nov. 14.
Collins said the city and the lights seemed like a good match.
“My wife had some medical issues, so I was trying to get away from this so we could spend some time together,” he said. “We donated it to the city. And the city knows nothing about it, so we just kind of threw them under the bus. And that wasn’t fair, so we came down to set them all up and get their feet wet with it.”
He said workers from the city helped get all the pieces in place beginning in mid-October, and Collins and Davis were working on getting the power connections and controls in place.
“Giving the lights to the city was a perfect marriage. They have the park and a perfect layout, and the parade,” Collins said. They hope to be finished in time for the first show, 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23.
“I’ve been building on this for 12 years. It started out small and kept building and building,” Collins said while taking a break from working on a windmill of mostly dark bulbs. “Then technology changed so you have RGB (red, green and blue colored) lights, which will change colors. And we can do videos and pictures on the big trees. You combine (the RGB lights) and you can make up to 2 million colors.
“It’s all programmed to music,” he said. Shows will last about 40 minutes.
“We’re going to start the day after Thanksgiving, we hope,” Collins said.
The chamber will accept donations during the shows. Each week, there will be a different benefactor. The organizations receiving the donations will be Connections, Montesano High School Food Bowl, Montesano Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scout Troop 007 and Montesano Co-op Preschool.
During the Festival of Lights, there will be live music and an Ugly Sweater dance Friday. Saturday’s events run all day and include the Pancake Breakfast and Auction with Santa, Craft Fair, and the Festival of Lights Parade. On Sunday, there will be the Cantata and Yule Log events.
People who go are welcome to bring a chair. The city will block off Pioneer Avenue south of Fleet Park for seating. For more on the events, go to the chamber’s Facebook page at tinyurl.com/MonteChamber.
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Jingle Lights showtimes
The Fesival of Lights new music and lights show will run weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas at Fleet Park in Montesano.
6, 7 and 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturday from Nov. 23 through Dec. 15. (There will be no 6 p.m. show Saturday, Dec. 8 because it conflicts with the Festival parade.)
Photos by Michael Lang | Grays Harbor News Group Plugs weave a complex web Wednesday, Nov. 14, behind lights on display at Fleet Park as part of the Festival of Lights’ Jingle Lights display.
Lights line a flower bed Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2018, at Fleet Park in Montesano. New this year to the Festival of Lights, Jingle Lights will be on display with shows Friday and Saturday nights between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Photo by Michael Lang | Grays Harbor News Group
New this year to the Festival of Lights, the Jingle Lights will be on display with shows Friday and Saturday nights between Thanksgiving and Christmas with extra shows the last week.
Ken Collins (left) and Travis Davis work on the Jingle Lights display Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2018, in Fleet Park in Montesano. The lights will be on display with shows Friday and Saturday nights between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Photo by Michael Lang | Grays Harbor News Group
