Park’s wish: A little light weather

By Marty Hastings

Staff reporter

reporter@kamloopsthisweek.com

Near the top of B.C. Wildlife Park general manager Glenn Grant’s Christmas wish list is tolerable weather for park patrons during the 12th annual Wildlights celebration.

Santa delivered a proverbial bag of coal to the park last Christmas in the form of unusually extreme winter conditions, which led to record-low attendance numbers.

Upgrades to lighting displays, the park’s ever-growing maze and winter wonderland wagon and train rides are giving Grant reason to believe the turnstiles will once again be working overtime.

“It’s just a fun family evening where people can walk around, enjoy some lights, have a hot chocolate and hang out with some friends and family,” he said.

More than 500,000 lights will illuminate the park.

Three-hundred and eighty rope-light sculptures of elves, reindeers, Kris Kringle and other Christmas characters will add to the park’s ambiance.

Nightly firework displays, beginning at 7:30 p.m., should draw some “oohs” and “ahhs” from bundled up onlookers, while campfires and hot chocolate offer them refuge from the cold.

“It’s really become a Kamloops holiday tradition,” Grant said.

Wildlights runs nightly, except Dec. 25, from Dec. 11 until Jan. 3 between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and youth ages 13 to 16, and $7 for children ages three to 12.

Children two and under are free.

The B.C. Wildlife Park is 15 minutes east of Kamloops on the Trans-Canada Highway.

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