This holiday season marks the 10th year of Naperville’s ‘Naper Lights’, the dazzling light and sound spectacle put on by the Rotary Club of Naperville Sunrise. On Saturday, a very special guest made his debut, checking to see who has been naughty or nice in the buildup to Christmas.
When Is Santa Claus Coming To Town?
Every Friday and Saturday night until Christmas, Santa will be in front of the Great Tree in Jaycees Park. Families can come read off their wish list and take pictures with the man in red anytime between 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
New to this year’s Naper Lights display is a giant teddy bear, which is also perfect for a family or even team picture. Also new is Santa’s Workshop, in which spectators can view and listen in to what presents Santa’s Little Helpers are creating. But there are some old favorites returning as well.
Family Favorite At Naperville’s Naper Lights
“Probably the favorite experience opportunity we have are these hologram glasses that you can put on that turn all of the Christmas lights into a dancing reindeer,” said Geoff Roehll, Charter Member of the Rotary Club of Naperville Sunrise. “The kids love them, but we found that the parents love them equally as well.”
While walking down The Riverwalk and Water Street, you can watch a full display of lights that sync to multiple Christmas songs. Other notable displays include light-up snowmen, figure skaters, and even a couple of talking trees. Now estimated at around 250,000 lights, the Rotary Club of Naperville Sunrise never expected their display to get this big.
Rotary Club Giving Back To The Community
“You know, we originally did this as a gift back to the community, said Roehll. “We wanted to create a free, family-friendly holiday event as a gift to the community. We didn’t expect that it would grow as big as it did, that the businesses and local community supported it financially the way they did. That has been fantastic involvement over the past ten years.”
The Naper Lights display will be up until January 5 and is turned on every night from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. On December 17th and 18th, families can enjoy live music from Naperville’s Bach To Rock.
Naperville News 17’s Joe Kennedy reports.
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