Printed from the Review
Festival lights up city
Kickoff at Queen Victoria Park draws big crowd
Ballet dancers portraying “icicle fairies,” creatures who supposedly live behind the mist of the Horseshoe Falls, helped transform Queen Victoria Park into a winter fantasy land for the start of the Winter Festival of Lights Saturday. The annual winter festival is officially on, even though Mother Nature hasn’t yet decreed that winter is.
Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, a children’s choir and festival mascots The Misty Kids performed to thousands of fans to launch the festival’s 25th edition, which runs until Jan. 7.
Actors from the local presentation of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” gave the audience a sneak peek of the show that will run throughout the festival period.
“It was a great show. We loved it. The show let the kids play. They got to clap and shout and dance around,” said Mary Rockey, who watched the show with her niece, Gabrielle Maerkle, from Pittsburgh, Penn.
Five-year-old Karlee Youngblut sat in the front row, clutching a Minnie Mouse doll. Her family arrived early to get good seats “because I like Minnie Mouse,” she said.
Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse were on hand to throw the switch to officially turn on the light displays, many of which are sponsored by Disney. Some light displays depict scenes from Disney movies, such as “Cars” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” which were added to the festival lineup this year.
But Mickey and Minnie’s onstage presence lasted only a few minutes - long enough to turn the lights on and linger to see a fireworks display.
Some of the Disney fans were disappointed Mickey and Minnie didn’t have a more visible presence during the event.
“He could have been longer,” said Jennifer Woods from Niagara Falls, who sported mouse ears for the show. “That’s what brings me down every year - to look at the Disney lights.”
The show was the debut for a 35-member choir the festival created during the summer.
Under the direction of Tatiana Korotkova, the choir sang three numbers, including a version of “O Holy Night” that served notice Christmas is eight weeks away.
The choir held auditions in the summer and began rehearsing in August.
“It was a lot of fun. It was kind of strict,” said Cassandra Robertson, a choir member from Virgil.
Organizers were pleased by the public’s response to the show, said Dino Fazio, manager of the Winter Festival of Lights.
“Fantastic reviews from the public. We are so pleased,” Fazio said after the first of two shows Saturday night in the park next to the Horseshoe Falls.
Big crowds filled the park to see previews of the acts that will perform during the festival and to watch fireworks over the Niagara River.
The festival has matured to the point it has a strong following of its own, Fazio said.
Even its homegrown mascots, The Misty Kids, have become icons for kids who have seen them year after year.
“We’re now at the point where we’re starting to gain the traction we’re popular with the kids,” Fazio said.
This year, the festival has more than 120 animated light displays in Queen Victoria Park and Dufferin Islands. All told, there are more than three million lights used throughout the festival’s displays and decorated trees. The festival draws a million people each year, organizers say.
This is the 25th anniversary for the festival, which uses light displays to depict scenes from Disney movies in Niagara Parks Commission property during the winter months.
Niagara Falls MP Rob Nicholson recalled a group of volunteers trying to get the festival off the ground in the early 1980s.
“This is beyond the wildest dreams of anybody at that time,” Nicholson said. “This has been a great asset for this community.”
Daylight savings time played havoc with the show. The sun was just setting at 5:30 p.m., when the show started, making it difficult to see the screens beside the stage where the show was broadcast. Because clocks weren’t set back until Sunday morning - a week later than normal - it was much lighter out at 5 p.m. than in previous years. But darkness had fallen by the time the displays were turned on.
“A little bit darker would have made it a little bit better,” Fazio said.
clarocque@nfreview.com
Copyright © 2007 Niagara Falls Review
© 2007 , Osprey Media. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Niagara Falls Review acticles reprinted with permission by the authority of Joe Wallace, City Editor of the Niagara Falls Review.
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