In a comeback year after being canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, the City of Council Bluffs is hosting "Winterfest" at Bayliss Park on Friday, November 19th, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“'Winterfest' is our annual lighting ceremony in Bayliss Park,” said Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh. “What started as a simple countdown in 2015 has grown into a well attended festival that makes you feel like you’re on a holiday movie set.”
At 6:30 p.m.that evening, Santa Claus and the Mayor will lead the crowd in a song of Jingle Bells followed by a countdown, after which Bayliss Park is illuminated with more than 40,000 holiday lights.
New this year: the Council Bluffs Public Library is bringing real reindeer into Bayliss Park and offering reindeer-themed arts, crafts, and literacy festivities.
Also new is a live ice sculpture demonstration, and, for the first time, the Union Pacific Museum is lighting its building with a festive display.
Despite last year's cancellation of the lighting event, the Bayliss Park holiday lights were on display throughout the Thanksgiving-Christmas- New Year's holiday season.
(Picture from the City of Council Bluffs)