Attendance drops for Alight at Night

nnMORRISBURG – Attendance was down by over 18 per cent for the 2019 edition of the Alight at Night festival at Upper Canada Village.nnAccording to Rosalyn Gambhir with the St. Lawrence Parks Commission, attendance this year was 39,097 visitors. Last year, attendance set a new record with over 47,900 visitors viewing the award-winning attraction.nn“While we had an all-time high attendance last year for Alight at Night, 39,000 for this season was a terrific attendance as well,” Gambhir said. “It was on par and quite good based on averages from the past three years.”nnThis year’s event did not announce any new features at the festival, opting to welcome back past favourites like the Victorian Santa at Saint Nick’s Merry Mansion, and Carousel Corner on the UCV fairgrounds space. Like 2018, Alight at Night had a one-day unscheduled closure due to inclement weather.nnThe attraction faced more competition in the region this season with new lighted night time attractions in Ottawa, Brockville, and Montreal.nnnnThis is the 19th year the SLPC has operated the Alight at Night festival at Upper Canada Village. Since its inception in 2001, the festival has won numerous tourism awards from organizations and the province. In 2012 the festival was named as one of the top 100 events by Festivals and Events Ontario.nnThe lights will not be pulled down just yet however. UCV will host the 2020 Dion Ontario Snowshoe Running series on January 11th. Upper Canada Village will reopen for the 2020 Summer season in May.nnBelow are some additional photos from the 2019 Alight at Night Festival.nn