Gulfport Harbor Lights Fest sees more than 18K attendees in just over one week

GULFPORT, Miss. (WXXV) — The Gulfport Harbor Lights Festival is in it’s 10th year here on the Coast, and after only a week into this year’s festivities, they are already drawing in large crowds. But, due to weather, the festival was forced to shut things down for a few days last week.

“So far this year, we’ve has about 18,000 come through the gates. That’s a little bit lower than last year , but we’ve also had some bad weather to start off, but hopefully all the bad weather is gone,” said Billy Lehman, Assistant Director of Leisure Services for the City of Gulfport. “We did have to close down two nights this year already — Monday and Thursday of last week. The rain over the weekend did scare away some of our tourist crowd, but we’re hoping to see them come through towards the end of the show as well.

The festival operates every evening, and it generates roughly $15 million each year for the City of Gulfport.

Over the last 10 years, a lot has changed. You not only get to see Santa and the intricate lights shows, but you’re now taken through Santa’s village and home, and you can even catch a ride on the Ferris wheel to get a look at the lights from the sky.

“I was with the original start-up team in 2015, so just seeing where it started and where it is now is honestly a complete blessing,” said Lehman.

The Harbor Lights festival will be open until the end of the year. To purchase tickets and to view a calendar of discount days, click here.