Festival of Lights had a huge turnout

The annual Hallettsville Festival of Lights turned out to be a massive success. The Christmas spirit was alive and well as many gathered to celebrate 27 years of the event.

The event kicked off at noon and entertainment for both kids and adults were provided. There were many vendors setting up shops bringing margaritas, food, and plenty of places to shop locally. Kids were able to meet Santa Claus and partake in a live mini petting zoo.

“The turnout was really good, there were thousands of people,” president of the Festival of Lights Bobbie-Rae Burnes said. “It was just as big a crowd as it’s been for the last couple of years. We had more children than we had in the past, we had about 400 kids come in to see Santa. The petting zoo was also a big hit.”

The bigger events started just before sundown. Folks gathered at the square to watch a live nativity production. Immediately afterwards, the lights in the courthouse shined in the night kicking off the holiday season. A lighted parade was then put on featuring floats from Hallettsville and the surrounding areas.

“The Christmas spirit was definitely alive and well,” Burnes said. “It doesn’t matter how old or how young you are, everyone’s face lights up whenever those lights come on. We’re all kids at heart whenever it comes to Christmas time."

There were about eight sponsors this year that made the Festival of Lights possible.

“We had so much revenue left over from the previous year and with this being such a hard year for everybody, we didn’t want to over-extend ourselves in the community,” Burnes said. “We were able to float a lot of the cost this year from our previous revenue. We could not do this without our sponsors though. They help contribute just as much as the board members do, they’re the reason it continues to happen every year.”

The board members of the Festival of Lights include Burnes, Vice President Sandy Schaffer, Secretary Christina Burnes, Treasurer Collette Jahn, and Chairperson Angela Spiers. There was also one volunteer, Daphne Koerth. Burnes wants to thank the board and Koerth.

“Koerth went above and beyond and did a great job,” Burnes said.

The Festival of Lights will be gearing up for next year come January. They will also vote for the new board in January as well.

“We will have thousands of new LED lights that will go up next year,” Burnes said.

Winners of the Festival of Lights parade are as follows:

Commercial winners for the parade were: First place, Paul’s Supply; Second place, Longhorn Liquor. Non-commercial winners were: First place, Sweet Home Cheerleaders; Second place, Hope 4H; Third place, Ezzell FFA.

Tractor, antiques, and classic ride winners were: First place, Hannah Griffin, 1950 Chevy Deluxe Coupe; Second place, Ronnie and Mellica Rice, 1923 Ford Model-T; Third place, Schmidt Brother’s Farm.

Chamber pageant winners were: First place, Shiner Chamber of Commerce and the Royalty Court; Second place, Flatonia Chamber of Commerce; Third place, Colorado County Chamber of Commerce and Royalty Court.

The ornament winners include:

First grade winners: First Place, Levi Haas; Second place, Kambry Kopecky; Third place, Taylin Chandler.

Third grade winners: First place, Harper Steffek; Second place, Zofia Halbrook; Third place, Ryker Thomas.

Fourth grade winners: First place, Emery Haas; Second place, Colton Garcia; Third place, Anton Kelley.

Fifth grade winner: First place, Abram Dworsky.

There were no second-grade winners.