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Courtesy of Events To a T (2020)
Ft. William Henry and Lake George Mermaids displays
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Courtesy of Events To a T (2020)
Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce display.
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Courtesy Events To a T (2020)
Northern Living display
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Courtesy of Events To a T (2020)
Ledgeview RV Park display
The Holiday Festival of Lights in Lake George Village is a big enough hit that the organizer has made room for more visitors and is allowing walk-ins, the organizer said.
The festival is inside the Charles R. Wood Park in Lake George Village, and people pay $5 per ticket to get past the fence and walk through more than 20 displays of holiday lights. Local businesses and organizations such as Greater Glens Falls Transit, Fort William Henry and others created the exhibits that include trolleys, station wagons, Christmas trees and snowmen.
Ticket holders are given a time to enter and 40 minutes to make their way through, but Events To a T owner Letizia Mastrantoni, the organizer, said that people were making their way around the oval track in closer to 20 or 30 minutes, yet they did not seem rushed. Also, some people bought tickets but did not show up at the appointed time.
This opened space in the schedule. Therefore, Mastrantoni sold more tickets per timeslot, she said. As some people exit, a few more have the chance to enter without bringing the total number of visitors over the COVID-19 limit of 50 people. The people who walk up or who had bought tickets in the expanded time slots enter once room allows. So far, people have waited only five minutes or less, she said.
“I was sick of everything being cancelled,” she said. As a wedding planner and event host, she said she just wanted to make things feel a little more normal.
At the Holiday Festival of Lights, three local vendors nearby provide freshly baked snacks, fried dough, cotton candy, hot cider donuts, or cocoa. She said she purposefully chose vendors who provided light fare so that visitors would go into Lake George Village to shop or eat. This is where the Lake George Chamber of Commerce comes in.
The Chamber had no role in creating the festival, but the group is encouraging people to “make a day of it,” to go see the lights and stay for the shops and restaurants that are open to the public, said Amanda Metzger, the director of marketing for the Chamber.
“Sometimes people get the impression that Lake George closes after Columbus Day. That’s absolutely untrue,” Metzger said.
To that end, the chamber is keeping the Lake George Village Visitor Center open from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturdays.
Metzger said this has been a great addition to the year’s attractions, especially since so many others have been cancelled due to the coronavirus restrictions that limit the number of people who can gather.
For instance, Light Up the Village, a perennial mainstay, was cancelled this year since it attracts “thousands of people” to the sidewalks and parks of Lake George Village, too many people to hope for social distancing, Metzger said.
Mastrantoni said she had to rent the park and she is paying staff, but her work is free. After paying that overhead, the proceeds will go to three charities: Operation Santa Claus, WAIT House and 11th Hour Rescue.
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The event runs Friday through Sunday, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., with the last entry at 8:10. Tickets are $5 at Eventstoat.net, Facebook/Eventstoat123 or on eventbrite.com under Holiday Festival of Lights.
The Lake George Festival of Lights runs through Sunday Dec. 20 at Charles R. Wood Park, 17 Westbrook Road, Lake George. No pets, smoking or vaping.
To see what else is open in Lake George, the Chamber has provided this link.
Editor's update: In the original publication, we called the event Festival of Lights. The name is corrected above.