On Nov. 28, the first-ever Marin County Holiday Light Spectacular commenced with an exciting opening night ceremony. The ceremony featured a speech by Libby Garrison, Deputy Director of the Marin County Department of Cultural Services, and a spirited 10-second countdown to the event’s opening, which freed attendees to explore a maze of Chris

tmas lights and other eye-catching attractions. These attractions, which will be open until Jan. 4, include a light display on the Civic Center lawn, an exhibition of local photography and a hands-on activity where attendees can write “letters to the future” which will be stored in a time capsule planned to be opened in 25 years.

To Garrison, whose department is responsible for planning county events like the Marin County Fair, a holiday light event like this had been long overdue in Marin. 

“We came up with the idea to put this together because there wasn’t something like this in Marin County. There’s a light event in San Francisco, in Santa Rosa, but Marin didn’t really have something free for the public to come and enjoy a holiday tradition,” Garrison said.

With the event, Garrison hopes to create a tradition for all types of Marin residents. 

“We really wanted to bring something to the fairgrounds and create a new holiday tradition for families and friends,” Garrison said.

“We wanted something free because we didn’t want to have a cost barrier, where people felt like they weren’t able to attend,” Garrison said.

Keeping with its theme of giving back to the community, the event features donation boxes for the Marin County Sheriff toy drive and the SF-Marin food bank food drive, which have already collected more than 20 toys and several bags worth of canned food as of Nov. 29, a day after the event’s opening.

Attendees from the community, like Marin resident Clayton Kissinger, enjoyed the spectacular’s opening night, with a performance by the Marin Barbershop Chorus being a highlight. 

“It [was] nice walking in and seeing the chorus, hearing their songs and just walking around,” Kissinger said.

Garrison likes to see this enjoyment from attendees and hopes to see more of them in the weeks leading up to the event’s closing. 

“I love seeing little kids, teenagers, [and] adults, all with smiles on their faces. I am really proud of that. I hope this becomes the thing to do, and I hope people come back multiple times over the six weeks that it’s up.” Garrison said.

For more information on the spectacular, which will continue until Jan. 4, see the Marin County website