Major Bellevue holiday event canceled

The Garden D’lights will be returning to the Botanical Garden in 2021

September 3, 2020 1:30 am
In 2019 Garden d’Lights celebrated 25 years. This year, COVID-19 has canceled it. Stephanie Quiroz/File photo.
In 2019 Garden d’Lights celebrated 25 years. This year, COVID-19 has canceled it. Stephanie Quiroz/File photo.

In one of the first COVID-19 cancellations for the upcoming holiday season, the city of Bellevue announced it will not host the Garden d’Lights at Bellevue Botanical Garden this year.

The festival of lights usually runs Saturday after Thanksgiving until New Year’s Eve, and draws 90,000 people, according to the city.

“This was a very difficult decision for us, since we know how much this event means to our community,” Cleo Raulerson, co-chair of the event, stated in a press release. “We look forward to returning, better than ever, in 2021.”

The event has taken place for 25 years and takes extensive preparation from local volunteers. Over 100 participants donate 6,400 hours in an almost year-long process to create animals and nature scenes with half a million string lights, that are then displayed throughout the garden.

More information is available at GardendLights.org.