This Ontario town will soon be taken over by stunning luminous displays and interactive light installations for the winter season. The annual winter festival Lights on Stratford returns and will transform the town’s downtown core and parks with bright displays, bringing some light to the coldest season.

Starting December 15th to January 13th, the free event will welcome all to enjoy exciting art installations scattered across Stratford.

According to its official site, it first launched in 2020 during the pandemic and since then, it has remained a staple for the town during the winter months.

This year’s theme is EMERGENCE – “Emergence is a noun that goes back to the Latin root emergere, meaning ‘bring to light.’ Just as something comes to light or shows up where there was darkness or nothing before, an emergence happens.”

Though there are a handful of displays to check out, a large-scale art installation will be placed in the Market Square – “Dandelion.”

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Per the site, it was launched earlier this year at Vivid Sydney, one of the world’s preeminent light festivals, and will now make its way to Stratford for its exciting festival.

“Inspired by the wind-swept petals of the dandelion, an international symbol of playfulness, and in some cultures even believed to have medicinal properties, audience members are transported by the interactive Dandelion into the world of the fanciful and hopeful,” states the site.

“Every 10 minutes, Dandelion boasts its natural talents to the audience, by spilling out into an eclectic and modern sound and light animation, inspired by wind, and the natural properties of the dandelion.”

And like always, the Lights On Stratford event is free to the public. It will launch on December 15th through to January 13th, 2024 on Thursdays to Sundays from 5 PM to 10 PM nightly, including New Year’s Eve.

Lights On Stratford

When: December 15th, 2023 to January 13th, 2024
Where: Scattered across downtown Stratford
Cost: Free