WHAT PEOPLE SAY

"For eight years now, 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.