The year 2022 has been memorable for a lot of reasons, many of them not so fun. However, there is one thing to celebrate this year: The Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends, the annual holiday lights extravaganza, is still going strong.
The Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends takes place every holiday season in Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Regional Park.
In many ways, this drive-thru event is the ideal holiday activity for a pandemic, giving families the perfect socially distanced way to drink in the beauty of holiday lights from the safety of their cars, trucks and SUVs.
If you've lived in Pine Bluff for any length of time, it's hard to imagine a holiday season without the Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends. You may not realize that this event is simply a continuation of a tradition that started nearly 27 years ago.
Before the inception of the Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends in 1997, Pine Bluff commemorated the holiday season with the Celebration of Lights festival. This event was launched in 1993 by Pine Bluff Downtown Development Inc. with help from downtown businesses.
At the time, lights decorated the Jefferson County Courthouse, Main Street, the Civic Center and Benny Scallion Park located at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
In 1997, the Celebration of Lights festival was expanded to the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Regional Park to accommodate additional lighting displays. On Nov. 24, 1997, switches were simultaneously thrown for the first Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends that took place in Regional Park, the Jefferson County Courthouse and Benny Scallion Park.
Prior to the opening of the 1997 extravaganza, Jennings Osborne, a Little Rock-based lighting enthusiast and philanthropist, caught wind of Pine Bluff's expanded holiday display. Osborne donated 20 animated angel lighting displays and 50,000 additional lights to the city, a contribution that catapulted the Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends into the regional and state spotlight.
The drive-thru tour of the Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends won the 1997 Outstanding New Idea from the Arkansas Festival Association, as well as the 2000 Festival of the Year and the prestigious 2006 Classic award, which is given to festivals that have reached their 10-year anniversary and are still growing.
Today, the festival is operated by the Pine Bluff Festival Association. It continues to be Arkansas' largest drive-thru tour of holiday lights with 1.3 miles of more than 240 displays, many of which are animated. For thousands of Arkansas families, a drive through the sparkling Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends lighting display is an annual tradition that spans the generations. Many youngsters who first experienced the festival with their parents are now taking their own children every year -- often more than once during the holiday season.
Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends traditionally opens the third Tuesday in November and welcomes drive-thru visitors nightly from 6-9 p.m. through Dec. 31. This year, because of technical difficulties, the start is scheduled for today. Admission is free for the Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends. Donations are graciously accepted by volunteers at the end of the drive to help maintain and grow the display of lights.
Here at Explore Pine Bluff, we love the Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends and we visit every year. We'll be there this year, too. Load up the car and take the family through Pine Bluff's winter wonderland. You'll be glad you did!
This article is among features at explorepinebluff.com, a program of the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission.
The Enchanted Land of Legends and Lights is ending its 2020 holiday run after Thursday night. During this year's event, thousands of dollars in toys were given away. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Byron Tate) - Use this file photo but with the other cutline