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Ladysmith is lighting up

The Town of Ladysmith will be transformed, once again, into a magical place of sparkling and twinkling holiday lights and decorations
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Santa will be in Ladysmith next Thursday. Will you be there?

The Town of Ladysmith will be transformed, once again, into a magical place of sparkling and twinkling holiday lights and decorations beginning with an afternoon and evening celebration next week.

On Thursday, Nov. 24 the town celebrates the 29th annual Light-Up Night.

In 1987, Bill Fitzpatrick first considered the concept of stringing a few lights on local business buildings to draw some attention to the approaching holiday season. He could never have imagined how his small idea has now become a yearly event for over 20,000 visitors who join Santa in flipping the light switch.

These fun-filled, family-oriented festivities will welcome the 2016 holiday season and nowhere are the lights brighter and warmer than in this little town by the sea. The community will be ablaze with over 100,000 dazzling lights presented in a style echoing of years gone by. From the Coronation Mall, at the south end of town, to the downtown core on First Avenue and all the way to Aggie Field at the North end, turn of the century businesses and homes will glow and twinkle as a result of thousands of hours of volunteer work.

The festival fund raising community spaghetti dinner at the Eagles Hall and the Festival Craft and Artisan Fair at the Aggie Hall beginning at 3 p.m. There will be wandering entertainers and musicians, plus stages at two downtown locations. As night falls over the darkened street, Santa Claus himself will arrive from the North Pole to pull the switch that turns on the lights.

The ever-popular Kinsmen parade will begin along 1st Avenue and proceed to the Aggie Field where more Light-Ups take place at Bob Stuart Park and the new Chuck Perrin tree sponsored by the Nanaimo Airport Commission.

The evening will conclude with a huge fireworks display presented by the Ladysmith & District Credit Union.