The elderly gentlemen carefully took out his debit card as his date stared at him with excitement and joy. “You know, we’ve lived in the area a long time but have never been here before. Where should we go first?” As I took out a map, and explained some of the festival highlights, the woman’s eyes began to widen with anticipation. “Thank you so much. Have a great night and a very Merry Christmas!” I exclaimed as the couple folded their map and began a new adventure at The Lights of Christmas Festival.

2019 was the twenty-third year of The Lights of Christmas Festival. That’s twenty-three years of serving the community through Christ-centered hospitality, twenty-three years of memory making, and twenty-three years of providing new experiences that highlight the true meaning of Christmas. This year, the reoccurring comments were clear, “Thank you so much for keeping the true message of Christmas at the center of all the beauty, creativity and interaction.” And, “This is my first time here, I am so excited!”

The staff and volunteers were honored to serve over 64,000 attendees, 1404 theatre guests, and 2900 overnight guests. Many of which came for the first time. We could not have served the incredible amount of guests without our caring and hardworking volunteers. Over 712 volunteers helped with the event with 12,575.5 volunteer hours. That’s a lot of service and a lot of people touched through the kindness of others. The reality is, the Festival could not run without the generosity and time of volunteers.

“Over and over, I heard how much people appreciated the variety of things to do in addition to the amazing lights. The range of arts and entertainment, shopping, food, and hands-on activities is unparalleled to other holiday light displays. In addition, people come for the lights and leave remembering the hospitality they received.” – Pat Patterson, General Manager, Warm Beach Camp & Conference Center, home of The Lights of Christmas.

This year highlighted fun new displays, created in-house, like a projection mapping animation, a 100 foot hand painted sea warf facade, and the new canopy of lights that cascaded from the peak of Cedar Lodge to the tops of trees below. Guests awed at the beauty of the displays and the enchanting atmosphere of the festival.

“We took our granddaughter to The Lights of Christmas for our very first visit and were blown away! We plan to make it an annual tradition for the whole family. Thanks for making it available as it is obviously a ton of work.” -2019 Festival Attendee, Camano Island

The Lights of Christmas takes three months to set up in addition to daily planning and designing all year-round, and a community of staff and volunteers who aim to serve others through Christ-centered hospitality.

Thank you to everyone who helped with the Festival, to all the donors who support the mission at Warm Beach Camp, and to the community for sharing their holiday by attending The Lights of Christmas Festival. We look forward to serving you again in 2020.

For Festival updates please visit www.TheLightsofChristmas.com or social media channels on Facebook (@TheLightsofChristmas) and Instagram (@warmbeachlights).

-Kayla Stikeleather, Marketing Associate, Warm Beach Camp & Conference Center