Bright Nights is officially moving to Surrey for this upcoming holiday season.
As Global News first reported on Tuesday, the popular festival tradition will move after the Stanley Park Miniature Train remains off the rails, dogged by chronic safety and reliability issues, forcing the charity to look elsewhere.
Bright Nights is the largest annual fundraiser for the B.C. Professional Firefighters Burn Fund and spent 27 years in Vancouver.
The Burn Fund will welcome donations to support vital programs for burn survivors, including Home Away at the Burn Fund Centre and a portion of proceeds from Noel Surrey will also benefit the Burn Fund, according to information posted on the festival’s website.
The Noel Festival made its debut in Surrey in 2024.
Rather than opt for a modified version of Bright Nights, the Vancouver Park Board has instead turned to a juggernaut pop culture franchise for a winter event — Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience.
And while there will be plenty of Hufflepuffs and Hippogriffs on site, the firefighters will be absent this year.
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“We were of course disappointed when we heard the announcement that the train wasn’t going to be up and operational,” Burn Fund Executive Director Jeff Sauvé said a few weeks ago.
Backlash against the Harry Potter-themed attraction in Stanley Park has one Park Board commissioner looking into cancelling the contract.
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