By Elijah Mangum
On Assignment
The Magic of Lights has been dazzling drivers at the Brandon Amphitheater since November`18 with its twinkling lights and creative storytelling.
The light show stretches a mile and a half with over two million Christmas lights that tell multiple stories.
Brandon Mayor Butch Lee said that the show’s high attendance has made a huge impact on the City of Brandon this Holiday Season.
“We were somewhat overwhelmed this past Saturday night. It was almost like 10,000 people all wanted to come at the same time,” said Mayor Lee.
The Journey begins with Guests tuning their radios to 90.5 for some coinciding Christmas music before going back in time to a Prehistoric Christmas. This is where guests will see Dinosaurs interacting with Santa Claus and Christmas Trees.
Then, the trip jumps to the Victorian era with ice skating and an old fashioned Christmas town.
The patriotic tunnel transports guests into a Winter Wonderland before encountering a giant Barbie doll and monster truck.
Other sets included a second tunnel, Christmas Around the World, The Nativity Story, “12 Days of Christmas” and “Twas the Night Before Christmas”.
Brandon is just one of 21 Magic of Lights shows across the United States and Canada.
“I suspect someone out in the world saw what we had accomplished the last two years,” said Mayor Lee. “We did a drive-thru Christmas program during the covid year where people couldn’t get out of cars or visit with family. We just thought it would be a nice thing for our parks and recreation department to create a drive thru Christmas light program. We did that in Corey Park toned down due to Covid. In the second year, there was still some of that, so we did another one. So, we did it two years prior to being approached about the Magic of Lights coming to Brandon.”
Mayor Lee also said that he hopes to continue this next year.
Admission is $19 a carload or $50 for a limo or Bus. The show is open every day from 5-10 pm.
The Magic of Lights will run until January 1, 2023.
