WHEELING, W.Va. — Thousands of people drive through Oglebay Resort every year during a 10-week period from November and January to view one of the largest holiday light shows in the country. This year is expected to be no different, according to Herb Faulkenberry, the Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Oglebay in Wheeling.
The 36th annual Festival of Lights kicked off in the past week at the Ohio County park sees around 250,000 visitors take the 6-mile drive to view the near 100 lighted attractions. Faulkenberry said the park estimates it attracts more than one million visitors to the area each year in total visits during the winter season.
The three hundred acre event features more than one million energy-efficient LED lights with some displays having music and motion.
“It’s a great time to get out, relax a little bit. Walk through or drive through the park and see the lights. More importantly, to become a kid again,” Faulkenberry told MetroNews.
Aside from the displays, the new attractions to the holiday event include the Welcome Tree in the Hilltop area. It stands 70-feet tall and is lit up to the star on top. Close by the tree is the Magical Mansion Show where the Oglebay Mansion lights up with animated lights choreographed to holiday music.
Faulkenberry said the Good Zoo at the park also has popular activities.
“They do the rocking holiday light show on the outdoor patio. It gives you access to Santa’s workshop nightly and gives people the opportunity to also sit with Santa,” he said.
There are holiday dinner shows at Oglebay Sunday to Thursday nights from 5:30 to 7:30 hosted by the West Virginia Public Theater. Faulkenberry said there is also Breakfast with Santa events during the weekends.
Faulkenberry mentioned this is the perfect social distancing event as the COVID pandemic continues and the 2020 numbers prove him right.
In 2020-2021, Oglebay saw a 44% increase in traffic compared to 2019 with a 69% increase in donations from the previous year. The increase resulted in 57,088 vehicles going through the donation booths from November 5, 2020 to January 10, 2021 and over $785,000 donated. Faulkenberry said cars were seen from different areas of the country that had not been seen before.
The park asks for a donation when riding through the lights, as a way to help continue the tradition. For any vehicles that donated $25 or more, reward books were given with around $500 in value of Oglebay coupons.
The Festival of Lights is scheduled to end January 9.