Bemidji to Be Illuminated for Annual ‘Night We Light’ Festival the Day After Thanksgiving

For the annual Night We Light festival, the city of Bemidji will be illuminated with well over a half million lights.

While many people begin their holiday preparations today, planning for the festival started months ago. The event will be kicking off Friday, Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving.

The celebrations will start with Santa’s Workshop at the Tourist Information Center in downtown Bemidji from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and then the parade will start at 6. The lighting ceremony will immediately follow the parade, and then the grand fireworks display will take place over Lake Bemidji.

“We will make sure that the whole parade route has ‘no parking’ signs. We do enforce it, so please take a moment and double check that you’re not parked [there]. We do have to tow some vehicles some years, so we really hope that you just pay attention to the signs,” said First City of Lights Foundation President Becky Kummet. “Come out, enjoy, stay warm, and then we will have the Java Shack down here offering coffee also afterwards, and we have new fire pits with some s’mores kit[s] you can purchase here, some new things that are coming this year.”

After the fireworks display, Santa will be returning to the Tourist Information Center. Santa’s Workshop will again reopen on Saturday and run from 10 until 2.

A full schedule of events can be found at at the First City of Lights website.