Monday, December 2, 2024
LuminoCity returned to Eisenhower Park for its third annual Holiday Lights Festival with a sprawling, glowing, sugary dreamland on Nov. 7. The attraction also features food and drink vendors and a gift shop and will remain open through Jan. 5.
“This is 14 acres of wonder,” LuminoCity Project Manager John Baiata said. “Our job here is to make sure that when people leave here, they’ve rekindled the sense of wonder that they grew up with.”
The Holiday Lights Festival is LuminoCity’s annual flagship event. The festival’s theme changes annually, and it takes months of production to plan and construct all the displays. The production team of about 40 members worked on 2,750 handmade displays.
Xiaoyi Chen, the founder and chief executive of LuminoCity, was inspired to create the company based on her memories of growing up with traditional Chinese lantern festivals. She came to New York and created her business to spread a sense of awe and wonder with family-friendly attractions — and inspire the next generation of young artists along the way.
“By combining the heartwarming spirit of the holidays with the unique visions and creativity of the winners of Lumi’s Utopia, our event will bring the local community together and create lasting memories for all attendees,” Chen said in a news release.
This year’s festival partnered with the Long Island Children’s Museum to bring children’s artistic ideas to life. Children created drawings in the Lumi’s Utopia workshop, where the museum’s judges selected drawings to be made into light sculptures.
“Earlier this year, we were able to host a contest where many Long Island children came in and they made confection drawings of their sweet dreams,” Aimee Terzulli, vice president of program and visitor experience for the Long Island Children’s Museum said.. “We had the hard job of having our internal judges pick only 10 out of hundreds and hundreds of young people that got to learn about the lantern process and the cultural aspects of this beautiful art form.”
The children’s art was adapted into vibrant pieces such as singing ice cream cones, ballet dancers, chocolate covered strawberries and singing candy bowls. These children and their families were able to see their art come to life for the first time on the night of the festival’s opening.
Wantagh resident Dominic Recher, 6, is one of the young artists whose work — a field of ice cream cones — was turned into a light display.
“I feel very excited, and I feel very happy,” Dominic Recher said of his art being included.
“I’m really excited that my son won — he worked really hard, and I’m really proud that he put all his time and detail into his work,” his mother, Jessica Recher, said. “He makes me a proud mom.”
Festivals like LuminoCity help the community bond and boosts the county’s.
“We want to have things that are exciting, vibrant, new and family oriented, and this light festival checks all the boxes,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said. “We’re extremely happy to have this beautiful exhibition here. It’s nice to bundle up and get into the Christmas and Hanukkah spirit here in Eisenhower Park.”
The festival connects several luminescent holidays at once: Diwali’s theme of light overcoming darkness, Hanukkah’s lit candles and Christmas’ decorations, Blakeman added.
Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillips applauded Chen’s contribution to the local economy.
“Businesses drive our budget,” Phillips said. “When small businesses, large businesses, do well here in Nassau County, we do well as taxpayers.”
To learn more about the festival, where to park in Eisenhower, and how to reserve tickets, visit LumincoCityFestival.com.
