SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A staple of the holidays is set to make its return to Sioux Falls.
The finish line is within sight as crews with Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation transform Falls Park into a Winter Wonderland.
“Favorite time of the year. We get the whole park lit up for people to enjoy and be festive and connect with one another, take a stroll through the park,” Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation Assistant Director Brett Kollars said.
The annual display includes hundreds of thousands of LEDs and lights and hundreds of decorated trees and light poles.
“We’ve got over 29 miles of lights here, I think that’s over 380,000 light bulbs if you would,” Kollars said.
Kollars says the most significant number has nothing to do with the actual lights.
“The most impressive part is the amount of time our crew puts in. A crew of roughly eight putting in 1,500 hours to pull this event off,” Kollars said.
The effort isn’t lost on Margaret Ann Bailey who’s visiting from Burke, South Dakota.
“How much work they have to put in to make it so nice, I mean it’s beautiful,” Bailey said.
“We were here a couple years ago and we spent a lot, a whole evening here just looking,” Bailey said.
Her favorite part of the display is the centerpiece of the park.
“The Falls, where they light it, you know it’s really pretty,” Bailey said.
Parks & Rec marked the 20th anniversary of Winter Wonderland last year with fireworks, and they’re back this November by popular demand.
“This is an important event for us, for the city to gather around and the positive response we had from the fireworks, we just had to do it again,” Kollars said.
Kicking off the holiday season in style.
Winter Wonderland returns Friday at Falls Park. The lights will be turned on beginning at 5 p.m., followed by fireworks at 6. The display will be lit up nightly through January 5. There is no cost to visit Winter Wonderland.
