Downtown Omaha Dazzles During Holiday Lights Festival

The Holiday Lights Festival (www.holidaylightsfestival.org), produced by Mayor Jean Stothert and the Downtown Omaha Inc. Foundation and presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, KMTV 3 and STAR 104.5, showcases downtown Omaha and celebrates the spirit of the holidays by providing a full season of fun, festive, family-friendly activities.

Festivalgoers will find an abundance of holiday spirit in downtown Omaha this winter. The five-week Holiday Lights Festival is packed with exciting activities to offer a little something for everyone each weekend. Favorites include the annual Thanksgiving Lighting Ceremony, the Making Spirits Bright Holiday Concert, Sounds of the Season, all held in November, as well as the Conagra Brands Ice Rink (open Dec. 9 – Jan. 2), Wells Fargo Family Festival (Dec. 4) and the New Year’s Eve Fireworks Spectacular.

The community theme will once again be a campaign to “Shine the Light on Hunger,” encouraging the entire community to help fight hunger by dropping off non-perishable food and household items at the ice-skating rink and collection barrels placed at other locations throughout the community, including area Baker’s stores. Community members can also donate online via the “Shine the Light on Hunger” page on the event website.

Last year, ConAgra Foods, the predecessor to Conagra Brands, and the community collected more than 144,000 pounds of food and raised over $447,000 during the campaign. This was the equivalent of more than 1.4 million meals donated to Food Bank for the Heartland, meeting the community-wide campaign goal. The company’s Foundation matched proceeds collected at the ice rink dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000. This year’s campaign goal is 1.4 million meals.

For more information, including a list of this year’s sponsors, visit www.holidaylightsfestival.org.