Categories: Travel

Mesmerizing life-sized light installations will take over an Ontario city for the holidays

Image via Lights On Stratford

If there’s one thing we appreciate in Ontario, it’s a good winter festival. Stratford, Ontario knows exactly what the people want as it transforms its downtown and parks system into an illuminated wonderland with interactive light activations.

Lights on Stratford will feature works from artists from all over, including a piece called EMERGENCE by a pair of UK-based artists.

The holidays just got a whole lot brighter!

Where and when

Lights on Stratford Winter Festival runs from December 13th, 2024 until January 19th, 2025. The theme for this year’s festival is REIMAGINE.

The Light Trail of displays, installations and activations starts at Market Square in Stratford, Ontario.

What to expect

The trail begins with the highly-anticipated EMERGENCE piece. “We are thrilled to be bringing Emergence to Stratford this winter. This represents not only the Canadian debut for Emergence but also the first time we have exhibited any of our artworks in Canada,” says Alan Hayes, Lead Artist of the art piece called This is Loop.

The interactive light art “is carefully constructed to create an optical illusion inside the unit creating a complete sphere of light when viewed from close by that morph into a giant grid of light when viewed from a short distance.” Cool!

As you move along you’ll see another activation at Market Square called STARGAZE.

Stargate features a 12ft square encompassing a circular ring. This portal-like structure displays hypnotic visuals as it glows and changes colours.

You’re going to want to complete the entire map because the lights and art only get cooler as you go along.

The arches on the William Hutt (Waterloo St.) Bridge are part of the festival too, transformed into an illuminated installation.

GLOW & THROW is a fun way to warm up while you venture around the festival! This glow-in-the-dark curling experience will be during the day on Saturdays and Sundays, while date night glow curling sessions are available on Friday and Saturday evenings

There’s no entry fee to the Lights on Stratford Winter Festival so be sure to mix it in as a night out with the family and friends or as part of a winter date night.

If you want to be extra prepared, check out the festival map ahead of your visit.

It’s sure to be a merry and bright holiday season!