Grand Illumination – Downtown Holiday Lights Festival

[sciotomile]

Grand Illumination Ceremony
Friday, December 2nd
Bicentennial Park
5 PM

Join Mayor Michael B. Coleman for a celebration of the holiday season and Grand Illumination of Bicentennial Park, the Scioto Mile Promenade, City Hall and Columbus Commons. Activities begin at 5 PM with ceremony at 6 PM.

Enjoy strolling performers, traditional carols and a special appearance by Santa! In the spirit of giving, support the Empty Bowls project by purchasing a piece of handcrafted pottery and receive a bowl of signature mac ‘n cheese compliments of Milestone 229. All proceeds benefit the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

Culminate the evening with a holiday lights walking tour led by Mayor Coleman and Santa, departing from Bicentennial Park, strolling along the Promenade and concluding at Columbus Commons. Complimentary hot beverages and holiday sweets will be available along the walking tour.

Parking: Front St. and Rich St. parking garage, area surface lots and meters

http://www.SciotoMile.com

Grand Illumination
Downtown Columbus
Dec. 3, 2011 through Jan. 15, 2012
Dusk to dawn

Celebrate the season as Downtown Columbus comes alive during the holidays. Twinkling lights and a holiday tree will greet visitors at City Hall where children can drop off that special letter at Santa’s workshop. Columbus Commons comes alive with lighted displays to delight the young and young at heart. Stroll along the illuminated Scioto Mile Promenade to Bicentennial Park where penguins, snowmen and Santa will welcome visitors to a winter wonderland. Stop in Milestone 229 to warm up with a hot beverage and dinner while enjoying a panoramic view of the park and downtown skyline.

Parking: Front St. and Rich St. parking garage, area surface lots and meters

http://www.SciotoMile.com

[byJody]

More lights, more action Downtown?
Scioto Mile, Columbus Commons to join holiday light show
By Mark Ferenchik
The Columbus Dispatch Sunday November 27, 2011 6:23 AM

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/11/27/more-lights-more-action-downtown.html

5pm Festivities begin at Bicentennial Park;
6pm Guest of Honor arrives via Pedicab!
Following the Grand Illumination is a Walking Tour led by Mayor Coleman and the Special Guest which ends at Columbus Commons.
6pm-8pm Free carousel rides and hot chocolate at Columbus Commons

[AmyJ]

This sounds really fantastic.

[AmyJ]

[Pickerington_Kyle]

yeah, I went to the one in Louisville on Friday, and there’s was spectacular. I hope ours is as good.

[Caleb]

It will be better :D

[Walker Evans]

Grand Illumination Festival Takes Place Downtown on Friday
By: Walker

Thanks to the magic of daylight saving time, it currently starts getting dark around 4pm. But Downtown is going to be getting a whole lot brighter at night as over 180,000 holidays lights come on this Friday evening for the first ever Grand Illumination celebration.

READ MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/grand-illumination-festival-takes-place-downtown-on-friday

[Walker Evans]

Bump! Tonight! Can’t wait for this! :D The kids are gonna love it! ;)

[Walker Evans]

Stephen43215 said:
I think someone is going to get fired over the lighting ceremony at the Scioto Mile..The mayor was stalling while waiting for more lights to come on..on the other hand, Columbus Commons looks very festive!!

I think you might be right…

I was really hyped up to see this, and the actual flipping of the switch was kind of a let down.

That being said, the lights at Columbus Commons were really nice and it was great to see a lot of people out and about. MoJoe and Milestone both looked busy too. We need more casual restaurants in the area. Maybe some places to do some Christmas Shopping too…

[Pickerington_Kyle]

pictures?

[Anne Evans]

I loved the lights at Columbus Commons.

The programming for Grand Illumination seemed a bit too long for an event with so many kids.

[JazzFestAllNite]

We had a great time down there with our 2 year old but it was not due to the “Grand” illumination. Reminded me of Clark Griswold plugging his lights in before realizing they all ran through the switch in the garage.

Columbus Commons looks great & the free Merry Go Round rides were a big hit. I guess we were expecting to be blinded by the 100k+ lights, seemed like Coleman felt the same way.

[Stephen43215]

This is the first year for something like this to happen in downtown Columbus; over time they can add and readjust to make it a better experience. We did have a good time downtown and enjoyed seeing all the people out.

[buckeyevintage]

[Walker Evans]

Nice photos!!!

[Author]

Posts