Novi lights up for the holidays

NOVI — Hundreds of people gathered at Twelve Mile Crossing at Fountain Walk Nov. 17 for Light the Lights!, Novi’s tree-lighting ceremony in the center of the shopping area.

New Mayor Justin Fischer, accompanied by his children, promptly lit the lights of a huge Christmas tree at 7:30 p.m. as fireworks erupted in the sky in the distance.

“I’m not a big speech guy, anyway, especially when it’s cold. People here were not here to hear me speak. They were here to get hot chocolate or popcorn or see Santa,” Fischer said.

Along with the tree-lighting and fireworks, the event featured the band Spooky Sterling performing old-school, feel-good music; visits with Santa Claus; and food vendors selling kettle corn, candied almonds, hot doughnuts, and hot chocolate. Santa and Rudoph both mingled with the crowd while fire pits provided warmth.

The event was previously a three-day event known as Winter, Wine and Whimsy, which featured a large outdoor holiday market.

“We just thought that we would focus more on the tree-lighting this year,” said Jeanette Handy, a graphic designer in the city’s communications department who helped organize the event. “The cold and the length of the event — it was a lot for staff, for vendors, for attendees, so we really just wanted to shorten it and have it be more of a tree-lighting (like) how we used to do, actually, at Light Up the Night, which we last did in 2019.”

Light up the Night was held for many years at the Novi Civic Center.

According to Handy, organizers estimated that around 2,000 people were in attendance at Light the Lights! She said the nice weather was probably a factor in making the event successful.

“Light the Lights is a wonderful community event,” Novi Mayor Pro Tem Laura Marie Casey said via email. “It was great to see so many families enjoy the activities and I thought the City team did a great job organizing and managing it!”

Handy said organizers plan to hold the event in the same fashion next year as well.