Festival of Lights returns with new displays to bring more beauty to Sinnissippi Park in Rockford

By Steve Summers and Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The annual Festival of Lights is back this year with 16 new displays and newly lit sections of trees designed to give Sinnissippi Park a holiday glow.

The drive-thru holiday lights display, 1401 N. Second St., features more than 100 total displays and hundreds of thousands of lights, including 33,000 lights in the marquee opening tunnel. This year about 25 new twinkling trees and 25 uplights on trees were also added to give more depth to the park as you pass through.

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“We went for more of a beauty of the park look this year, instead of just displays,” said Ted O’Donnell, co-chairman of the nonprofit committee that organizes the event.

Festival of Lights officially switches on at 5 p.m. Friday and runs through New Year’s Eve.

Last year, it drew 105,150 visits to Sinnissippi Park, which is just shy of the record attendance of 105,453 in 2021. 

“It’s an eclectic mix of displays … and it’s beautiful,” O’Donnell said in an interview on This Week in the Stateline. “It’s something that Rockford really is and should be proud of, because we have something to showcase like this right in the middle of our beautiful city.”

The displays are put up by a small group of eight volunteers and it is funded entirely by donations and sponsorships. The money raised goes into upkeep of the lights and additions of new displays as well as funding the annual Fourth of July Fireworks display.

“If it wasn’t for sponsorships and donations, this event won’t happen,” O’Donnell said, “and we need both for both of our events to continue.”

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O’Donnell said that traffic picked up at the annual display, now in its 34th year, during the coronavirus pandemic when there was little else for people to do. Now, it’s a family tradition for people here and in the surrounding region such as places in southern Wisconsin.

“Now, it’s a part of their family tradition, just like Rockfordians,” O’Donnell said. “I love this event, a lot. … I just think it brings a lot to our community and it really showcases Rockford outside our community.”

Festival of Lights schedule

5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday through Sunday starting the day after Thanksgiving

5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Christmas week (Dec. 18-23)

Christmas Eve: 24 hours

Christmas Day: 24 hours

5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 26 through Sunday, Dec. 30

5 p.m. to midnight New Year’s Eve

Santa Claus Schedule: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 24-26; Dec. 1-3; Dec. 8-10; Dec. 15-17

Snow Queen Schedule: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 30, Dec. 7, Dec. 14, Dec. 21

How to help

You can help keep the display running by donating at the Festival of Lights or online at 4thandlights.com.

This article is by Steve Summers and Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas