A holiday tradition for some members of IBEW Local 48 is volunteering to help set up the temporary power for The Grotto’s Festival of Lights — all 500,000 of them. This year, union electri-cians and their employers at the National Electrical Contractors Association did the work on Saturday, Oct. 24.
IBEW Local 48 has been involved with the distribution of power for the Festival of Lights since its first year, 1988. That first year the Festival ran for just 10 nights with approximately 60,000 lights. It now runs from the day after Thanksgiving through Dec. 30, and displays well over half a million Christmas lights. The Festival also has snacks and a petting zoo for children, and features nearly 160 indoor holiday concerts performed in the chapel by many of the region’s finest schools, churches, and civic choirs.
More than 55,000 people enjoy the Festival each year. The event runs nightly from 5 to 9:30 p.m. through Dec. 30 (closed Christmas Day). Cost is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors 65 and over, and military personnel, $5 for kids ages 3 to 12, and free for children 2 and under. Visitors are encouraged to bring a donation of canned or dry food benefitting Snow-Cap, the East county’s affiliate of the Oregon Food Bank. Parking is free.
