Mississauga lights festival draws 250,000-plus visitors, extends stay until spring
Published March 1, 2023 at 12:09 pm
A “dazzling” Mississauga festival of lights that has drawn more than quarter of a million visitors since opening last September has extended its stay in the city yet again.
The renowned Illumi–A Dazzling World of Lights, which set up on a huge north Mississauga site near Hurontario St. and Hwy. 407 last Sept. 14 for what was to be a temporary stay until early January, will now remain in Mississauga until at least April 9, Illumi officials say.
“Illumi’s magic continues,” officials said in an email promoting the extended stay in Mississauga. “We’re thrilled to announce we’ve added more dates to our calendar–we’re now open until April 9.”
Initially intended to close up shop on Jan. 8, the attraction first extended its stay by three weeks until Jan. 29. That date was then subsequently pushed back even further to March 19, and now until the second week of April.
An Illumi spokesperson, when contacted earlier by insauga.com, wouldn’t say if the attraction plans to remain in Mississauga year-round now that it’s stay has been extended to seven months.
The spokesperson would only say that various plans are being considered.
Scheduled to come to Mississauga on several occasions since late 2021, the Illumi festival of lights finally opened in the city last Sept. 14. It’s located at 7174 Derrycrest Dr.
Billed as the “largest light, sound and multimedia show in the world,” the attraction is set up on a 600,000-sq.-ft. site that’s equal in size to 10 football fields, a spokesperson for Montreal-based Illumi said earlier.
“The extraordinary light show is the first of its kind in the Toronto market and the largest light, sound and multimedia show in the world,” a spokesperson for the festival of lights wrote in an earlier email to insauga.com.
Featuring more than 20 million LED bulbs, the seasonal festive attraction has captivated kids and adults alike “as they embark on a spectacular outdoor journey on foot through 14 magical worlds,” organizers say.
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Brought to life by “cutting-edge programming technologies, the immersive Illumi universe features high-definition projections, jaw-dropping state-of-the-art animatronic creatures (and) thousands of light structures” in addition to the millions of brilliant LED bulbs, creators of the attraction say.
The show features seasonal theme changes as well, including Halloween and Christmas themes staged late last year.
Last August, organizers unveiled the company’s hallmark installation, the Tree of Lights, at the Mississauga site.
Standing 154 feet tall, which is three feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, and made of 28,000 interactive luminous spheres, the Tree of Lights has been lit up each night since its unveiling and will continue to be throughout the attraction’s stay in Mississauga.
Ticket information can be found here. Ticket prices are subject to change based on high demand.
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