Circle of Lights

Rounding up Monument Circle

Circle of Lights events bring festive vibe to Indiana

Veda Thangudu thangved000@hsestudents.org The Circle of Lights event is one of the most popular winter attractions in Indianapolis. In past years, there were about 100,000 attendees, according to the offi cial Downtown Indy website. “I’m expecting to see something amazing,” junior Leah Majeski said. “Good music, lots of fun lights and people. Hopefully, there will be some kind of social distancing because if there are a lot of people there, it will not be safe.” Lights will be put on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Nov. 13, but they will not be lit until Nov. 26 at the Circle of Lights event. “I’m excited to see the lights,” Majeski said. “I love looking at the Christmas lights. Driving through neighborhoods and looking at all the fun lights put up is so exciting, especially if you can go to downtown Indianapolis and see that on such a big statue.” Th e event being a 59-yearold tradition in downtown Indy, many families make it a tradition to visit it every year to get into the holiday spirit. “Th e anticipation builds up to the lights being turned on,” senior Zoe Robinson said. “It’s just all happy and gets you into the Christmas spirit.” Last year, the Circle of Lights event that traditionally fi lled Monument Circle and surrounding downtown streets on the Friday evening aft er Th anksgiving was a TV-only event. “It’s going to be really interesting to see how many people go, because of COVID,” Robinson said. “I feel there will be a smaller turnout, although it’s still outdoors. People might want to go just to feel the normal crowd energy again.” Due to the pandemic, the tree lighting could only be seen on WTHR Channel 13. Allie Moff ett, downtown Indy Communications PR Manager, believes that there will be a good turnout this time since nobody was able to go the previous year. Following the

Soldiers and Sailors Monument aft er the lights were turned on, on Dec. 7, 2018. Photo courtesy of Jordan MacMillan.

virtual event, there will be a new element unique to this year. “This year, for the first time, we are doing both an in-person event as well as a made-for-TV special,” Moffett said. “There is a lot of live entertainment, we will have local entertainment from around the city.” Entertainment is planned to begin at 6:30 p.m. and the madefor-TV event will start at 7 p.m. on WTHR-13. Indianapolis Power and Light company (IPL) organizes a coloring contest and the winner, along with Santa Claus, flip the switch to turn the lights on. “I would suggest for younger children to go. It’s a great start for the Christmas season,” Robinson said. “I always loved when they sometimes had reindeer here. As a kid, I always thought it was so cute.” The lights will be up for visitors to see until Dec. 30, 2021. The College Football Playoff is coming to Indianapolis this year, and the national title game is on Jan.10, 2022. “Typically they are up a little bit longer but we wanted to make sure the circle was ready for the different events that will happen there,” Moffett said. “There was always a good crowd and it’s always gorgeous. It’s definitely a cool experience and a pretty attraction.”

Aside from the lighting at Monument circle, there are many other local lights to see: Christmas Night of Lights at the state fairgrounds starting Nov. 1; Winter Lights at Newfields starting Nov. 22; Merry Prairie Holiday starting Nov. 26; Deck the Downtown in Noblesville starting Dec. 3; and Westfield in Lights starting Dec.4

Complete Monument Circle decorted, on Dec.7, 2018. Photo courtesy of Jordan MacMillan.