The
AT THE BLUE EARTH PLAZA
MANHATTAN, KANSAS
In accordance with local ordinances,
The Festival of Lights Online Illumination Celebration
will be aired Friday November 27th, 2020 at 7pm on Facebook Live!
The grand display can be enjoyed from November 27 through January 1st. Please practice social distancing and personal safety measures, or view from your car and tune your radio to 88.1FM to watch the lights dance to music! Plus drop a letter in Santa's mailbox and expect a reply!
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
"The Festival of Lights has become our family's favorite tradition. Every year just after Thanksgiving, we meet at the tree and celebrate the season of giving."
— Patti C., MHK Local
THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS IS BROUGHT
TO YOU BY LOCAL BUSINESSES
FOR THE GREATER MANHATTAN COMMUNITY
Whoville, Inc. is a group of local Manhattan business owners and community leaders who love to give back. They formed a not-for-profit collective in order to create the Festival of Lights.
Their mission is to bring our community closer together by providing curated events and magical displays that are open to the public throughout the holidays. The Festival of Lights has been embraced by Manhattan for eight years now and has become a place to create family traditions and lifetime memories. The Festival of Lights is fully funded annually by generous local individuals and businesses.
IT ALL STARTED WITH AN IDEA...
It was springtime in 2013, tulips blossoming, trees swaying in the wind...and the foundation at the south end of Manhattan freshly settled. Poyntz Avenue was shaping up with new businesses opening and just beyond, the town had expanded to include a diverse array of new opportunities for our community: The Discovery Center, Hilton Garden Inn, Blue Earth Place, Candlewood Suites and Fairfield Inn anchored the newly named Blue Earth Plaza, and in 2014 were followed by Radina’s Bakehouse, CivicPlus and the Holiday Inn Express & Suites.
It was longtime local businessman, Colin Noble, who first had the vision to inaugurate the area with a grand holiday tree in Blue Earth Plaza. He called upon Brad Everett & Gwyn Riffel to expand the idea, wherein Wade Radina joined, ultimately forming Whoville, Inc. It was this group of leaders, together with Ward Morgan and June Schnittker of Master Landscape, Inc. who caused a simple idea of a holiday tree to expand into Manhattan's Festival of Lights! And so the overarching goal in one short year has grown into a commitment by this group and many more to hold an annual event at the beginning of the holiday season to bring our community together in celebration.
Be part of something spectacular!
Master landscape, inc.
Thomas Outdoor Advertising
Charlson & Wilson Insurance Agency
Fairfield Inn
Heineken Electric
Hy-Vee
kstate CREDIT UNION
radina's bakehouse
4
Calling Birds
$5,000+
3
french hens
$2,500+
FOLEY EQUIPMENT
KANSAS FENCING, INC.
Community First National Bank
CANDLEWOOD SUITES
Holiday Display Services
MERAKI ROUSE HOME DESIGN
MERITRUST CREDIT UNION
Midwest Concrete Materials
THE MERCURY
Palmer Law Group LLP
BANK OF THE FLINT HILLS
HAYDEN & KOHLMEIER ORTHODONTICS
WTC
Bayer Construction Company, Inc.
BRIGGS AUTO.COM
Capitol Federal Savings
Central National Bank
City of Manhattan
ERA High Pointe Realty
HOME DEPOT
Insomnia Cookies
Jerry & Belinda Snyder
JS Sign & Awning
KANSAS PRO SOUND
KS STATE BANK
LANDMARK NATIONAL BANK
Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
Manhattan Parks & Recreation Department
SITE BOX STORAGE
2
turtle doves
$1,000+
5
GOLDEN RINGS
$10,000+
2020
Santa's
helpers
$50+
BASKIN-ROBBINS
VISTA DRIVE IN
BILL & SHARON SNYDER
BOB & TRACEY DEBRUYN
CIVIC PLUS
COLDWELL BANKER REAL ESTATE ADVISORS
COMMERCE BANK
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS & SUITES
J SALON
WYNN & MARY ANN BUTLER
ENDACOTT LIGHTING
THE TRUST COMPANY
AJ'S NY PIZZERIA
MCCULLOUGH DEVELOPMENT
JAYSON & ELIZABETH CYR
USHA REDDI
AGGIEVILLE BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
ARTHUR-GREEN LLP
HOLIDAY INN AT THE CAMPUS
KATHY AND MARK FARR
MELISSA SCUILLA
RONDA COOK
AARON EASTEABROOK & DANITA MACDONALD
GARY & ELAINE GORDON
MICHEAL & BOBI HOOVER
PATRICIA HUGHES
MICHAEL PENROD & JUDITH SIMINOE
MEREDITH PENROD