The Recorder – Bernardston Recreation Department seeks participation for ‘Festival of Lights’

BERNARDSTON — The Recreation Department is calling on residents to decorate their homes and light up the town for the upcoming “Festival of Lights.”

The free event will be held from Friday, Dec. 18, through Christmas Day. Recreation Department Chair Jenn Stennes said, as of Dec. 9, 175 Bernardston families had signed up to participate.

Amid the lasting COVID-19 pandemic, Stennes said the Recreation Department hasn’t been able to hold some its usual community events.

“We wanted to do something fun and safe,” she said.

She said the Festival of Lights was inspired in part by her family’s traditions when she was a child.

“When I was a little girl, my dad used to drive me, my mom and brother around town to look at the Christmas lights,” Stennes recalled. “My brother and I would count how many houses had Christmas lights up. The challenge was to see which road had the most.”

Stennes acknowledged the positive response from Greenfield’s “Light Up the Fairgrounds” event, and hopes to see similar success for Bernardston’s.

The department is putting together a list of streets where people can view the various displays. The map will be posted to the Bernardston Recreation Department’s Facebook page and the Festival of Lights event page. To be added to the map, message the Recreation Department on Facebook or email rec@townofbernardston.org.

Stennes said the Recreation Department will post a poll to Facebook, asking people to vote for their favorite decorated street and displays. The Recreation Department is also considering creating a slideshow as a way to include residents who may not be able to leave home to view the Festival of Lights themselves.

Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.