Sparkle Tour creator hopes to build on past success

REGINA – A Regina man loved holiday lights so much, he took matters into his own hands to ensure that everyone has chance to tour the city’s best holiday displays.

The Sparkle Tour started in Regina back in 2012 when Iann Gorrill and his family decided they would take the time to map out and share publicly some of the nicer festive set-ups in the Queen City.

Last year, the Sparkle Tour started gaining popularity – and the feedback has been overwhelming.

“Lots of people have told me on social media and in person how much they enjoy taking their family out for their own Sparkle Tour, which has made this project real exciting,” said Gorrill.

With the Sparkle Tour starting to take off, Gorrill is working with a few businesses this year to try and provide prizes to some of the more elaborately lit homes.

“This year we really had some growth and a lot of shares from our posts about getting the Sparkle Tour name out there.”

The tour may even get a chance to air some of the nicer homes on a local cable station.

But with growing popularity there also comes a few obstacles for Gorill and the Sparkle Tour. It was recently brought to his attention that a local business has started promoting a similar service, with the same name.

“To have something I felt is growing in popularity around Regina and to have another Regina entity try to use the same name and use what looks like all the addresses definitely didn’t feel quite right,” Gorrill said.

He said he doesn’t want to speak out too harshly, since the whole point is the holiday season and he doesn’t want to taint the Sparkle Tour name.

Gorrill hopes that through social media – and the help of other fans of exterior illumination – he will be able to expand the site to include more communities around Saskatchewan.