Hundreds helped to kick off the Christmas season in Westlock Friday night for the annual Christmas Light Up.
Although new organizers took on the event this year — a group of local business owners coordinated things instead of the Westlock Chamber of Commerce — everything went off without a hitch.
Todd Arth, one of the organizers, called it “a great success” following the fireworks.
“I thought everything went well,” he said. “We’ve had good participation and good weather.”
The festivities began with a parade, which although shorter than previous years with only about a dozen floats, was not lacking in flair and enthusiasm, which Arth had nothing but praise for.
“I know how hard it is to make a float; we’ve made many over the years,” he said.
There was no candy thrown from floats, but Westlock FCSS handed out goodie bags to countless children along the parade route.
Francis Cloutier put on an impressive fireworks display following the parade, with the gathered crowd cheering as one rocket after another exploded.
And of course no Christmas event is complete without a visit from the man in red, who made several appearances throughout the night — both in the parade and at the SAAN store afterwards, where he heard some Christmas wishes and posed for photos.
Arth said while the organizers can take some credit for getting the event together, it couldn’t have happened without the active participation from the community — including the Town of Westlock, Westlock FCSS and all the parade entries.
As for next year Arth said it’s too soon to say exactly what it will look like, but many of the same organizers would likely be involved to help.
