Christmas lights are shining bolder and brighter across St. Albert as private residences and commercial establishments dust off their holiday paraphernalia.
Borealis Lights, an inaugural project promising to attract eager Christmas visitors, recently popped up at St. Albert’s Kinsmen RV Park. The spectacular Christmas drive-thru light display features more than 800,000 LED lights in assorted commercial Christmas decorations.
This enchanting visual feast brings together a combination of static and animated displays. They range from a boatload of Disney characters such as Aladdin, Captain Hook and Peter Pan to 30-foot-tall candles, life-size winter animals, candy canes, as well as animated deer and trees. But the big attraction is a 100-foot tunnel built from 26,000 dazzling, dancing lights.
Highly visible from both Ray Gibbon Drive and Riel Drive, it attracted more visitors than anticipated during its first weekend, which began Nov. 18. Borealis Lights will remain open to the public until Jan. 8.
“It’s quite a magical experience. You drive through the festive décor and it’s magical. It makes you believe in Christmas as seen through the eyes of a child,” said Scott Machej, co-owner of CLG Displays, event sponsors.
Machej and his partner Lawrence Taylor have erected commercial Christmas light displays and decorations for more than 15 years. The duo has created an enchanting winter wonderland of visual displays at malls, movie theatres, cultural centres, casinos, streets and town landmarks across the province.
Among the many projects, CLG also provided decorations and light displays for Winter Wonder Forest initially based at Snow Valley in 2020 and in Sturgeon County the following year. Unfortunately, the 2021 project declared bankruptcy and CLG stepped in to fill the void.
“We had experience during COVID up at Fort McMurray. Since you couldn’t have Christmas parties for employees, some of the employers had us create a drive-thru light park for the employees. We also got involved with Winter Wonder Forest at Snow Valley in 2020. We had the expertise. We had the product. We looked at surrounding areas and the Kinsmen were very receptive to the idea,” Machej said.
The park will operate every day, including Christmas Day, from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are sold in 30-minute time slots to manage park capacity. The complete experience runs about 20 to 30 minutes when driving at the requested speed. Visitors are encouraged to drive through slowly, enjoying the lights and taking photos or videos from inside their vehicle.
The Kinsmen, who are strong community supporters, will receive $1 from every ticket sale. In addition, donations for the St. Albert Kinettes Christmas Hamper program will also be accepted for the 300-plus St. Albert families needing a hand. Non-perishable foods and toys are welcome, and can be dropped off at the entrance area where tickets are checked. Visitors can also make a monetary donation to the Kinettes through Borealis Lights online ticket purchase.
A standard online vehicle ticket costs $25, and a passenger van or limousine is $45. On-site ticket purchases are $35 and $55 respectively. Visit www.borealislights.ca for more information.
