Gulfport’s Christmas lights show officially canceled after Zeta. What about next year?
The electronic Christmas light show in Gulfport, a regional draw, will be canceled for 2020 because of Hurricane Zeta damage.
The Gulfport Harbor Lights Winter Festival, which drew more than 80,000 people last year, was set to run in the evenings from Nov 27- Dec. 31.
The frames of towering Christmas trees with colored, dancing LED lights — the multimillion-dollar show’s centerpiece — have been damaged and ticketing center was destroyed. The tree frames were being set up before Hurricane Zeta hit Wednesday night.
The setting for the show, Gulfport’s harbor, also suffered heavy damage and the dozens of city employees who work on the holiday light show will have Zeta cleanup priorities.
The tensile roofs over both the amphitheater by the main harbor pavilion and another area north of the boat docks were blown down and piers heavily damaged, Mayor Billy Hewes said. He said the boat slips themselves suffered less damage.
“At this time, I don’t know how we could plan on having it,” said Gulfport Councilman Rusty Walker, who came up with the idea for the Christmas lights display. “I believe it would be very difficult to do anything and we are very disappointed.”
Light show ticket purchases will be refunded
Walker said hundreds of people have bought tickets to the show that sprawls through Jones Park and the harbor with lighted displays, carnival rides, food booths, visits with Santa and more. Tickets will be refunded.
He said most of the holiday displays can be repaired for 2021, but it will take months. The city plans to set up a free light show this year on the harbor’s west end.
Harbor Lights inspired Hallmark movie “Christmas in Mississippi,” filmed in Gulfport, where a photographer returns to her hometown to help rebuild after a hurricane, and runs into her high-school sweetheart as the whole town comes together to put on the light show.
This is the first year for the Mississippi Aquarium, another regional draw, to be open north of the harbor in downtown Gulfport.
The city and aquarium had teamed up on marketing, with the aquarium selling afternoon tickets to visitors who planned to see the Christmas lights in the evening.
The aquarium was closed Friday, according to its website, with no reopening date announced yet. The aquarium opened on the waterfront Aug 29, Hurricane Katrina’s 15th anniversary.
Also Friday, Belhaven University in Jackson canceled its annual Singing Christmas Tree, the oldest singing Christmas tree in the country started in 1933, because of concerns around COVID-19.
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 11:37 AM.
