COLD LAKE - The third annual ‘Sparkle in the Park’ kicks off at the Cold Lake M.D. Campground on Sunday evening.
The annual event sees the campground filled with Christmas light displays created by local businesses and community organizations as a way of spreading some holiday cheer, raising money and awareness for mental health initiatives, and collecting food for the Cold Lake Food Bank.
“The holiday season is hard for a lot of people, so one of our volunteers [Jessica] came up with Sparkle in the Park,” said Ashley Brown, the marketing co-ordinator at Hearts for Healthcare, the Cold Lake charity that organizes and hosts the event each year.
According to Brown, the first year they had 10 display participants, and 1,200 vehicles come through. This year, they have 75 stalls filled with displays.
“It’s free for [groups] to pick a stall. And the M.D. supports us in a bunch of different ways, they give us the power for free. Really, they’re one of the main sponsors behind it,” said Brown, noting they also receive support from Imperial Oil, who donates handcrafted wooden ornaments to gift to the first 100 vehicles each night.
According to Brown, there is also at least 75 people who are volunteering their time to make the event a success.
Admission to Sparkle in the Park is by donation. Money raised goes to Hearts for Healthcare in support of mental health initiatives, and non-perishable food items collected go to the Cold Lake Food Bank.
“[Last year was] the biggest donation for Cold Lake Food Bank that they saw all year,” said Brown.
“But you can come for free if you have to. Obviously, we love when people donate, because it helps lots of different things. But it's a way to bring cheer and bring everybody together and kick off to the holidays. That’s our main goal with it all is for it to be something that the community can come together for and look forward to,” said Brown.
Asked what the specific mental health initiative would be this year, she said they have not received a specific ask yet but will work with their mental health partners to determine what is needed.
“Last year for instance, they needed new waiting room chairs. And to some people they’re just chairs. But when you're waiting in to go to a therapy session, being in a nice, comfortable, not ripped, clean chair is a big deal,” said Brown.
Walkthrough sneak peek
This year the event will start with a walk-through night on Sunday.
“People can actually come walk through and there's going to be a big bonfire, Santa, s'mores, that type of stuff. And it's kind of the sneak peek night, and then the actual event starts Monday and runs through until Saturday,” said Brown.
People participating in the walk-through will need to park off-site and walk into the M.D. campground to see the displays. Brown said it is important to know the walk-through is only on Sunday. Monday through Saturday it will be drive-through only.
“Because it’s so dark out, it just wouldn’t be safe to have people walking through and driving through at the same time,” explained Brown.
Hours
Sparkle in the Park runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. from Dec. 1 through Dec. 7 at the Cold Lake M.D. Campground located at 2301 – 1 Ave in Cold Lake North.
