For more than 65 years, the Stratford Festival has drawn theatre-loving visitors from around the world. The annual event plays a leading role in the region’s vitality, generating approximately $140 million in local economic activity and supporting—both directly and indirectly—about 3,000 jobs in the city. COVID-19 restrictions prompted the cancellation of the 2020 theatre season and the scaling down of 2021’s offerings as well. To provide a much-needed boost of business and employment activity in 2020, Destination Stratford launched Lights On Stratford—a winter festival of lights that transformed the heritage downtown core and park system with luminous art and interactive installations.

In August 2021, the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), invested $23.5 million to establish My Main Street, and the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) is playing an important a role by leading the Community Activator program to support community-enhancement projects. After receiving a My Main Street contribution of $125,000, Lights On Stratford not only returned for the 2021/22 winter, but it also expanded the number and scale of public art installations.

As a marquee attraction, the festival featured the North American premiere of Sky Castle—an interactive exhibit that previously appeared in Melbourne, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The Sky Castle installation featured a cluster of five-metre-tall inflatable arches that changed colour and played sounds when people passed through the Market Square site.

Stratford’s own talented arts professionals also created several stunning sites, including the illumination of Shakespearean Gardens with over 4,300 tiny lights that reacted to the movement of visitors; an interstellar installation on Tom Patterson Island with giant, glowing models of the planets and an overhead network of star-inspired lights; and an imaginative display at the Avon Theatre that chronicled a fantastical around-the-world journey.

Destination Stratford developed the event with accessibility in mind; all programming was free to attend and viewable by foot or car. Moreover, the physical design of the festival—with open-air spaces and self-guided layouts—fostered a safe and comfortable environment for participants.

“Stratford has earned a stellar reputation for visitors during the summer,” says Zac Gribble, Executive Director for Destination Stratford. “With the support of the My Main Street program, our new Lights On Stratford winter festival of lights has demonstrated the ability to drive downtown visitation and activation during the winter months, helping reimagine our city as a year-round cultural destination.”

With more than 80,000 visitors, Lights On Stratford shattered attendance expectations. Furthermore, the festival attracted sizable numbers of tourists to downtown Stratford with 68 percent of visitors having travelled more than 40 kilometres to experience the playful light installations.

The influx of visitors provided an economic lift during a season that is traditionally quiet for Stratford’s hospitality sector. A preliminary analysis of downtown hotels, restaurants and retailers showed a 34 percent increase in sales activity during the 2021/22 Lights On Stratford festival, compared to the same months in 2019, before the pandemic.

In addition to the positive economic impact, Lights On Stratford directly employed a full-time general manager and myriad of full-time and part-time positions. Plus, the festival created employment opportunities for more than 50 arts professionals, including lighting designers, composers, prop builders, welders, riggers electricians and engineers.

“Our family cannot wait to return to our favourite place in the world. Thank you for keeping the lights on for us. In the meantime, we’ll continue to think about all of the artist, creators and small business owners that encapsulate the magic of Stratford!” — Stratford visitor

Lights On Stratford is a shining example of a project that supported a local community—as both an economic engine and a beacon of hope—through the challenges of COVID-19. Moreover, the festival demonstrated the limitless potential for programming that extends Stratford’s cultural tourism industry throughout the winter months.