Meggan Monday: Building the Gulfport Harbor Lights Festival
If you’ve driven down Highway 90 near Jones Park in Gulfport recently, you’ve probably noticed it’s already starting to look like Christmas.
Yes, the city has started transforming the park into what will soon become the ‘most magical show in Mississippi.’ Gulfport Harbor Lights Winter Festival opens November 29th, but today Meggan is excited to show you a glimpse of what happens to bring this popular family attraction to life.
Jase Payne with the City of Gulfport said, “We have over two million lights. We keep on adding displays throughout the years. We have tunnels of lights, new trees, new static displays at Santa’s Village and of course our train station and all the trains that go throughout the park and so we have a lot of opportunities for people to come and enjoy the holiday season.”
“We’ve been working on this since the last week in September and we’ve been moving forward our team and our contractors and everybody. The park is almost fully set up, we’ve got Santa’s Village and a couple of the ticket booths we have to move around but we’re already working. It’s always Christmas in Gulfport so we’re excited to see people back in Jones Park.”
“We have on staff with the city of Gulfport in our events division, we have a full staff that works year-round. They’re checking all the lights, all the displays, going through creative mock ups for Santa’s Village.”
“Everything that you see inside Santa’s Village we create inside the City of Gulfport or our paid contractors do but led by our special events team that works on this year-round. All these little trinkets inside the park, all the different signs, all the management in this festival goes with the City of Gulfport.”
“People can expect a few new static displays inside the park. They can also see different aspect of Santa’s Village that we have really gone through this year and worked out some kinks as well as making the flow line for Santa better. All in all, people are going to see a lot of things they’ve seen in the past that they really enjoy to see every holiday season and we’ll always be adding some new stuff along the way.”
“South Mississippi needs to know we do have discount nights. Monday through Wednesday we do have a local night for Gulfport residents. We have a first responders’ night. Seniors get in for five dollars Monday through Wednesday, 65 and older. We also have teachers, medical professionals and so check out our website at GulfportHarborLights.com and you can see all the discount information. From there we hope to see people in Jones Park on opening night and throughout the entire December month.”
Island View Casino is a huge partner for this project every year.
Gulfport Harbor Lights Winter Festival opens November 29th and continues through the end of December. Tickets are now available online, click here for more information.
