The FOLEPI (Festival of Lights East Peoria Illinois) Winter Wonderland will open for the season at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and will run through Dec. 31. The two-mile drive-through display features more than 50 lighted floats and displays. (Photo courtesy of the East Peoria Festival of Lights)

Hundreds of volunteers have been working hard for months to light up the holidays with the East Peoria Festival of Lights.

Featuring more than 50 floats and displays, the FOLEPI (Festival of Lights East Peoria Illinois) Winter Wonderland will open for the season at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and will run through Dec. 31. The drive-through display is located at 123 Par 3 Lane in VFW Post 2078 Park off Springfield Road.

Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 5 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is $10 for all vehicles, except full-size charter buses, which pay $150.

“We estimate the average number of lights in the entire festival is about two million,” said Jill Peterson, East Peoria’s public relations coordinator.

In its 32nd year, the festival has become a holiday tradition for many families. Last year about 24,700 vehicles drove through the two-mile display, which became part of the festival in 1993.

“We hear from people who were little kids when the festival started who are now grown up and bringing their kids to the festival, so it’s really going across generations now,” Peterson said. “Where else can you go and see a dragon that breathes ‘smoke’ out of its snout all in lights?”

The East Peoria Festival of Lights Enchanted Forest will officially open with a tree-lighting ceremony at 5:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26, in the Levee District. The area is free to enter and a favorite spot for families to take Christmas photos, according to Jill Peterson, East Peoria’s public relations coordinator. (Photo courtesy of the East Peoria Festival of Lights)

Zach Hicks, 21, of Princeton said going to the Festival of Lights has been part of his family’s holiday tradition since he was young.

“I like looking at all the hard work that goes into each light sculpture. No matter how many times I’ve seen the display, it still amazes me,” said the Judson University junior.

“I think the biggest reason I like it is that the world seems to be changing more and more every day, so it’s nice to have something I can look forward to each year that brings back good memories from years ago,” Hicks added.

Sue Hoffman of Pekin recalls going to the Festival of Lights with her parents and her now-grown daughters when they were small.

“I’m looking forward to going to the Festival of Lights this year because I want to get back to some of the Christmas traditions I did when my children were little,” she said. “It helps me get into the Christmas spirit by being with the ones I love, cherishing the time we have together and making memories.”

Families often bring popcorn or other snacks from home or pick up a pizza on the way to enjoy while they drive slowly through the display.

This triceratops is among more than 50 floats and displays made from Christmas lights that will be on display at the East Peoria Festival of Lights Winter Wonderland this year. Last year, more than 24,000 cars drove through the two-mile display, which is located off Springfield Road. (Photo courtesy of the East Peoria Festival of Lights)

“You can see the kids looking through the car windows, and they are so awestruck,” Peterson said. “That’s what makes it so neat for those of us who work on it; just seeing how happy it can make a lot of people.”

Two new floats were added this year and last year–the first time since 2011—and several old favorites have been enhanced.

“We have some different motion on the steam engine wheels, and we’ve added a different platform for the queen’s float. Last year we added some bay doors that open at the top of the space shuttle float, and an astronaut comes out and does a spacewalk. That’s all done in lights,” Peterson said.

Smaller floats are built with pencil steel on golf cars, while larger floats are built on cars. Once the frame is built, it’s put outside to rust before being painted black because the paint sticks better to rusted metal, Peterson explained.

The last step is to clip on the lights by hand. “There’s no machine that puts these lights on,” Peterson said. “It can take a couple of weeks or longer. The Clydesdale float, which is very popular, took almost a year to build and put the lights on.”

Volunteers work on the floats year-round to make repairs and enhancements to ensure they’re ready for the annual festival. “It takes hundreds of volunteers, and we’re always looking for more to help with our various festival events,” Peterson said. “The more the merrier.”

This year’s festival will also feature an Enchanted Forest in the Levee District, featuring a 35-foot tall Christmas tree that will officially be lit at 5:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 with carols by the Caterpillar Employees Mixed Chorus. Admission is free to the Enchanted Forest, which also features a few parade floats and lighted trees.

Other events include a Shop and Stroll from 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 4 in the city’s historic Four Corners District bounded by Washington and McKinley streets, the competitive FOLEPI River Trail Classic race on Saturday, Nov. 26 and the family-friendly Get Lit Fun Run through the Winter Wonderland display at 11:50 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

One of the biggest changes to occur since the festival began is that the floats and attractions are now lit with LED lights.

“With the conversion to all LED lights, our electricity bill for Winter Wonderland has decreased greatly. Several years ago, when we were using incandescent light bulbs, the bill was $80,000. With the switch to the energy efficient LEDs, the bill is now about $5,000, Peterson said. “The LEDs are so much brighter and come in so many unique colors, so I think that’s really helped transform a lot of the festival floats.”

For more festival details, visit the website www.folepi.org or call (855) 833-5327.

— East Peoria festival set to light up the holidays —