Leavenworth Christmas Lighting Festival Shelved Until 2021

The Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce announced that the Christmas Lighting Festival is shelved until 2021, meaning the traditional weekend lighting ceremony and countdown at 4:45 p.m. will not occur this year. The Village of Lights display, however, will be lit from Thanksgiving until Valentine's Day as well as offering the sight virtually.

"We're sitting at Phase 1.5 and the numbers that are out there aren't real encouraging that we may not be very far out of 1.5, if at all,” said Troy Campbell, executive director.

The infrastructure and organization that goes into the festival also exasperates a lot of resources and requires ample time to produce the organization. The cancellation provides the Chamber time to plan something else for the month of December.

"We've all experienced a very tough 2020 and we knew that come holiday time we're all going to need a little magic and Leavenworth is a place people come to be happy, so we have the lights going up," said Campbell.

Also on hold are other festival activities including strolling carolers, chestnut roasting, live entertainment at the gazebo, the traditional Gluhwein tent, and the yearly children’s Cookie Crawl.