Sarnia’s Celebration of Lights displays will shine bright Saturday night, ahead of schedule.
Chairman of the Board Dean Holtz said for the first time, the set up went flawlessly and they were given the green light to proceed after an inspection.
Volunteers started to take displays out of storage in early November as the set up process at Centennial Park spanned over a couple of weekends.
"We turned them on after the community set up on [November 13] and everything lit up fully so we were kind of surprised by that, pleasantly surprised!"
Organizers planned to turn on the lights on December 1, but this weekend seemed like the right time.
"We thought, let's surprise the community by having the lights turn on early and we thought we would just work in tandem with another great tradition in the community, and that is the Santa Claus parade," said Holtz. "We thought we would let everyone know the day of."
The lights will be on from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. Holtz said they will be turned on every night until January 30, 2022.
"We're leaving them on even longer again this year for people to really enjoy," he said.
Unlike previous years, there will be no opening night ceremony. Holtz said even though restrictions surrounding outdoor events have been lifted, there wasn't enough time for plans to be made.
"We decided to forego until next year where we want to do a bigger and better event. We want to do it with excellence," said Holtz.
Anyone who goes to see the Celebration of Lights displays is encouraged to tag Sarnia-Lambton Celebration of Lights on social media when posting pictures and sharing experiences.