The Kiwanis Holiday Lights Board of Directors is pleased to announce that a record amount of $100,000 will be donated to the 70 non-profit organizations that assisted with the event this past year.
“Even though we had no snow for the first time in the 11 years of the event, this year we still drew record crowds. The warm weather allowed more people than ever to walk through Kiwanis Holiday Lights.” said Scott Wojcik, Kiwanis Holiday Lights President. “We are extremely pleased to be giving back a record $100,000 to the volunteer groups that assist us during the event.” Wojcik added.
Additional statistics include:
Over 225,000 people attended the free event in 2023.
The event remains completely volunteer-driven.
All set-up was completed over 10 days over the five weekends prior to opening.
All tear-down was completed in three days in early January.
$100,000 will be donated back to the non-profit groups that assisted with set-up, tear-down and evening volunteer help during the event.
70 non-profit groups participated, providing 14,500 volunteer hours with 3,000 volunteers participating.
For the eleventh year, visitors were encouraged to vote on their favorite non-profit tree this year. Winners were.
1st place – Mankato Family YMCA - $300 prize
2nd Place – Mankato Area Youth Baseball Assoc. - $200 prize
3rd Place – One Bright Star - $100 prize
Over 3,250 children visited Santa, and each received a free Kiwanis Holiday Lights Coloring Poster
55 Greater Mankato businesses participated as cash sponsors, and 25 Businesses were in-kind sponsors, showing continued support for the annual event.
11 tons of food were collected for 19 area food shelves.
The opening night parade was presented by Girl Scouts River Valleys Troops 34494 & 37938. The winner of the float contest was Affordable Towing of Mankato.
Over 2 million energy-efficient LED lights glowed brightly throughout the event.
41 area restaurants donated food to help feed the volunteers during the event, as well as during set-up and tear-down.
The opening parade and lighting ceremony for the 2024 Kiwanis Holiday Lights season will be November 29th, 2024.