The holiday lights display at Springfield's Forest Park opens to the public on Wednesday. Watch video
Bright Nights 2011 gets underway on Wednesday.While there’s nothing like freshly fallen snow to reflect the picturesque beauty of the many holiday lighting displays that make up Bright Nights at Forest Park each year, the October nor’easter was just a little too early for everyone.
Despite the devastation the raging snowstorm caused to so many area trees, including those inside Forest Park, Bright Nights will open on schedule on Wednesday at 5 p.m. when prices are rolled back for opening night only to $6 per vehicle. Helping to “flip the switch” will be Massachusetts Lt. Governor Timothy P. Murray and Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.
The Oct. 29 n’oreaster damaged at least two displays and required a massive cleanup of downed branches.
“I really never gave the snowstorm a second thought until it happened. When arriving at the park, I didn’t really know what to expect. Then I saw it, and it was nothing like I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Director of Bright Nights and Athletic Fields David Cuoco, who, with a crew of four beginning as early as October, lovingly bring Bright Nights to life each year.
“We lost at least a week of set up time. We couldn’t put displays up where workers were cutting down branches just hanging from some trees, and even then we had to wait until the area was cleaned before we could go in and set up. And some roads were simply impassable, filled with downed branches,” he added.
Bright Nights at Forest Park is a cooperative effort between the Spirit of Springfield and the Springfield Department of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management.
Judith A. Matt, president of the Spirit of Springfield, thanked the park staff who “have been working non-stop to clear downed and hanging limbs in Forest Park ... Visitors to Bright Nights won’t miss a minute of what has become a holiday tradition for so many.”
During their travels, visitors will enter the Bright Nights enchanted forest through some larger-than-life poinsettias in Poinsettia Fantasy, then continue their tour viewing displays called American Flag, Kwanzaa, Nativity, Winter Garden, Seuss Land, Letters to Santa, Garden of Peace, Jurassic World, Victorian Village, Barney Mansion, Leaping Frog, Winter Woods, North Pole Village, Toy Land, Giant Poinsettia Candles and Happy Holidays, Springfield.
Bright Nights has changed more than 110,000 bulbs this year, upgrading many to newer energy-efficient LED lighting, which glow brighter.
For visitors looking for something beyond the amazing lighting displays, special activities this year include:
Bright Nights Express – Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 9, 16 – a spirited train ride from Hartford to Springfield to Bright Nights
Military Night – Nov. 30 with free admission to those with active military ID, greeted by members of the Springfield Veterans Activities Committee and Cathedral High School students, as well as Sheila Doiron of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, sponsors of the special night.
Supper with Santa – Dec. 4, 8, 11, 18 in the Barney Carriage House
Dinner with Dickens – Dec. 1, 7, 13, 14 in the Barney Carriage House
Horse-drawn wagon and carriage rides – Wagon rides every Friday, Saturday and Sunday with reservations accepted on Friday and Sunday; carriage rides on Saturday night only
Photos with Santa – Nightly until 10 p.m. through Dec. 24 when Santa leaves for his big trip at 8 p.m.
Consult the Bright Nights website at www.brightnights.org for additional details on times and prices.
While driving through Forest Park, holiday light seekers can tune their radio to 98.5 FM for Bright Nights’ own festival of music to enhance their visit with traditional and contemporary sounds of the holiday from Nat King Cole to Justin Bieber.
Also, the lights don’t begin and end at Forest Park. Visitors to Bright Nights can continue their festive experience by driving through downtown Springfield and along Boston Road, where dozens of areas and buildings also light up the holiday nights.
And for those who like numbers – here they are: The drive through Bright Nights extends some three miles past more than 450 ornamental display pieces featuring some 650,000 illuminating lights. It’s also the 17th season of Bright Nights at Forest Park, which over the years has seen more than 3 million visitors traveling in cars and buses to view the largest holiday lighting display in the Northeast.