Drive-through Christmas lights event hopes to avoid wait list

Last year, there were long lineups for Langley’s Christmas in Williams Park

Langley’s annual Christmas in Williams Park lights display will be a drive-through event again, but unlike last year, there are no plans to require advance booking.

Barbara Sharp, president of the Christmas in Williams Park Society, which hosts the free festive event for families with assistance from Langley Township, said the big difference is the event will run longer than six days, which was all that was possible in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This year, “we have all three weeks,” Sharp exulted.

Last year, when the holiday display was opened to the public, the result was a weekend full of lengthy wait times and line-ups.

Last year, the Christmas in Williams Park event in Langley was limited to six days due to COVID-19. This year, it will run for three weeks, but will still be a drive-through event. (Barbara Sharp/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Last year, the Christmas in Williams Park event in Langley was limited to six days due to COVID-19. This year, it will run for three weeks, but will still be a drive-through event. (Barbara Sharp/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Traffic crews and volunteers even had to turn vehicles away.

An online reservation system was introduced, and close to 2,000 available spots were snapped within a day and a half.

“We were booked solid,” Sharp recalled, in large part because the Langley light show was one of the few Lower Mainland holiday events that went ahead that year.

“Hopefully, we won’t have to have it (prebooking) this year,” Sharp said.

Beginning Friday, Nov. 26 and continuing until Sunday, Dec. 19, each night from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., visitors will be able to take in the lights by driving through the park at 6673 238th St.

There is no fee to enter, but donations are welcomed, and a tap option will be provided. If it’s not busy, visitors are free to go around the park more than once, but there will be no access to parking or washrooms.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: The return of the girl who saved Christmas

Christmas in Williams Park is looking for volunteer greeters to meet visitors.

Duties include checking if any lights need attention, taking any donations, and making sure the park has no more cars after 9 p.m. because the lights will go out automatically by 9:15.

Those interested can sign up online at:

https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/17010327232688077/false#/invitation .

Now that non-essential cross-border travel is being allowed, Sharp will at last be able to pick up an addition to the Langley display that she obtained through a group of Western Washington State Christmas lights fanatics known as the Pacific Northwest Christmas Lights Addiction Problem (CLAP).

“Finally,” said Sharp, who closed the deal for the fan-shaped lights to the Williams Lake display just before the pandemic hit.

For more information, visit the Christmas in Williams Park Facebook page.

READ ALSO: This year, the Glow Gardens light show at Langley’s Darvonda Nurseries will be a drive-through


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