Free Everett light show lets kids prance and parents rejoice

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, December 15, 2021

EVERETT — It’s a garden of blooming lights.

A place where kids can prance with joy and parents can rejoice at the cost.

It’s free.

Wintertide Lights’ walk-through display is open nightly at the Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens in Everett’s Legion Park, 145 Alverson Blvd. The display is open 4 to 8 p.m. through Dec. 31. The ballpark lights by the parking lot lead the way.

Last year was the first year the arboretum lit up the grounds for holiday foot traffic.

“We did it in response to COVID and it was so well received,” spokesperson Renee Greenleaf said.

This year’s light show is three times bigger and brighter, she said. The event is sponsored by the city, the Everett Public Library, donations and volunteers.

“We have lights at our home. Not like this. There are no lights like this,” said Thazy Chaw, 3, of Everett.

It had just the right vibe for playing the group game red light-green light with some preschool friends who came with their parents.

“It’s really beautiful,” said the boy’s mom, Christi Bruchok. “We did the whole book walk and got to enjoy a nice story.”

The walk is themed around the book “Snowmen at Night,” making it an outdoor story time opportunity. Pages of the book are on numbered signs along the paths, where gnomes reside.

Greenleaf said more than 25 trees are aglow and numerous bushes twinkle.

Last year was a learning curve. “The pathway lights got stomped on and wrecked, so we put in rope lights,” she said.

The entrance columns have lights that move with music.

“One little girl on the first night walked up to the columns and put her ear into the lights. She thought the music was coming from the lights,” Greenleaf said.

A family event with cocoa, candy canes and crafts in an outdoor tent is from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday.

“Kids can do a scavenger hunt to find gnomes,” Greenleaf said.

Andrea Brown: abrown@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3443. Twitter @reporterbrown.