Nakusp’s annual Celebration of Light will take place on Dec. 4.
The event kicks off at 1 p.m., with the grand opening of the Old Fire Hall Collective Building. At 3 p.m., there’s a free skate with Santa at the Nakusp Arena, hosted by Nakusp Minor Hockey.
There are all day activities as well. Stuff the Bus, a donation gathering for the local food bank,is taking place again, which is put on by Overwaitea and the Nakusp Food Bank. Shops are also having a Downtown Merchant Moonlight Madness from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The event was put together by Aubin Coulthard. This is Coulthard’s first time planning the event. She said a lot goes into pulling off the celebration.
“It’s mostly coordination of volunteers, insurance, licensing, permissions, all that kind of stuff,” she said. “I had to ask the Department of Highways if we could close the street down for that night. I had to get permission from the village to close the sidewalk down.”
Another thing that goes into planning the event is trying to foresee any problems before they arise.
“I have a backup plan for a lot of different things. Hopefully we won’t need them.”
While there are some things that remain part of the celebration, such as the free skate and parade, new events have been added to the event, such as the ugly sweater contest which will take place right after the parade ends. There will be prizes for children, youth, and adults.
Because the event was to have more of a focus downtown, there will be no house decorating contest this year.
“They’ve tried in the past to do house decorating contests, but that’s been a little difficult time-wise. We thought if we did a contest down at the event, it would make things a little easier.”
Another new thing is the fact that there are no trees to light up.
“Last year, there were two huge trees in front of the courthouse, and they decorated them, and lit them up. This year those trees have been cut down as they were diseased.”
The event is gearing up to be a fun time for all. Residents are encouraged to come down and enjoy the fun.