This year's winter light display at Lafarge Lake is getting many rave reviews from those who take the 20- to 30-minute trek around the lake to view the 100,000 twinkling lights put up by city parks workers.
But few know the story behind the 2016 edition of Lights at Lafarge, which features not Christmas icons such as Santa Claus and his reindeer but whimsical fairy gardens enhanced with repurposed materials.
A kind of Alice in Wonderland garden without the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts, the winter light display was designed by city employees who have previous holiday light experience and was put up over a three-week period, according to Kathleen Reinheimer, parks and facilities manager, who previously worked at VanDusen Botanical Garden and was involved in light displays at the Vancouver holiday institution.
"We started brainstorming back last January," she said. "It was fully together, including all the details, through the summer. It is something you really can't wait until the fall to do."
It was designed by Bruce Tiessen, the city's landscape manager, who worked at Minter Gardens prior to coming to the city, Reinheimer said. "He took charge of creating those things, creating those designs, and how we would actually construct them."
Reinheimer noted that Lights at Lafarge is about 30% larger than in previous years to mark the city's 125th birthday in 2016 and the city hopes to build on the display for an ongoing legacy.
It cost about $40,000 for the additional lights and materials this year and the garden design dates from five years ago, when the city took over the display started by Douglas College.
"It's that whimsical end of it, but not purely Christmas," Reinheimer explained. "It was partly we wanted to be different, that was one of the early ideas. We wanted to be classy but not Christmas kitschy. It's about walking and creating little surprises, and as you go, you get such a reflection off the lake, it's beautiful."
It wasn't easy hiding all the electrical wires, however — some are strung about 10 feet in the air while others are tucked away below mats or in underground conduit so people don't trip over them. The display also takes advantage of power made available in the newly constructed amphitheatre.
The city estimates as many as 4,800 people a night are viewing the display, which will be on daily from dusk until 11 p.m. until Jan. 22, except New Year's Eve, when the lights won't go out until 1 a.m.
Reinheimer said the public has been complimentary of the display and a few have shared their personal experiences.
"There were tears," Reinheimer said, when one lady told staff that one of the tulip lights she created — they're made of used water bottles that have been cut and painted — was positioned near a memorial bench for her late husband.
Another couple was overheard telling their kids, "This is the spot where your dad asked me to marry him," Reinheimer said. "We like having the the community feel it's theirs."
