Another bright year for Lights On Stratford as 2025/26 season wraps

The CHRONOHARP brought many attendees down to play along with the beams and watch the changing colours and patterns of the lights.

Despite inclement weather like blizzards and freezing rain, Destination Stratford’s sixth annual Lights On Stratford was still a success.

Under the theme RADIANCE, the annual winter festival of lights ran from Dec. 12, 2025 to Jan. 18, 2026.

“Bringing people together in the deep dark winter to experience joy and wonder through light art is what it’s all about. It’s a massive undertaking to host a multi-week international lights festival, but it’s all worthwhile when there are smiles and delight coming from our patrons,” Zac Gribble, Destination Stratford executive director, said to the Times.

Some of the Lights On Stratford nights were threatened, even cancelled, due to inclement weather. However, the event still drew in plenty of attendees.

“Our intrepid crews and staff persevered and we’re really proud of this year’s ambitious programming and light art installations that drew so many people to brave the elements and experience our winter lights,” Gribble said.

Out of the four displays, Gribble said CHRONOHARP in Market Square drew in 22,103 patrons and BIRDS OF A FEATHER on Tom Patterson Island drew in 21,307 patrons, so both installations are a near tie for most popular installations. Younger families flocked to the BIRDS OF A FEATHER installation more often.

“Even among the six birds, everyone gravitated towards different ones, but I think that the largest of them, WHOO-DINI the Snowy Owl, was definitely the crowd favourite,” he said.

Birds of a Feather was designed in partnership with Birds Canada and Nature Canada, as Stratford has been recognized as a bird-friendly city. Destination Stratford distributed 2,500 junior birder guides during the event and more than 250 people entered the bird naming contest.

The blowup birds featured in BIRDS OF A FEATHER were WHOO-DINI the Snowy Owl, JAYSTIN PEEPER the Blue Jay, AVONDEE the Black-capped Chickadee, TOM TWEETERSON the Cardinal, SUNSHINE the Goldfinch and TAPS (Sir Taps-a-Lot) the Downey Woodpecker, will re-appear in other future Stratford events. The EVERBRIGHT installation inside the Destination Stratford Welcome Centre is also a permanent exhibition.

The silent discos were also very popular this year, with the last taking place Jan. 17.

“This winter we featured four local DJs at eight silent disco parties and we were very pleased with how popular and well attended these events were,” said Gribble. “There’s something incredibly satisfying as a Canadian when we see hundreds of people bundled up in their warmest winter wear to brave the elements while silently dancing and celebrating together under the lights in Market Square and Tom Patterson Island.”