Sartell’s County Lights Festival Promises Bright Displays and Festive Fun

(KNSI) – Friday marks the kickoff for Sartell’s eighth annual County Lights Festival.

The display attracts around 20,000 people a year to Lake Francis. They come to meet Santa, sip on hot cocoa and listen to Christmas songs. KNSI News caught up with Co-coordinator Tom Jelinski as he was putting the final touches on the array and says it’s worth checking out every December. “It always looks different every year. So, it’s not going to be the same type of setup, very similar, but there’s always something different with how it’s set up.”

The exhibit is always adding more lights to try to make it brighter. KNSI asked Jelinski how many lights it takes to light up the park: “Enough to trip the breakers. I don’t know. Enough to put the breakers on the light poles at maximum capacity, so hundreds of thousands.”

Country Lights Festival/Facebook

Co-coordinator Scott Schmitz was also helping get the display ready for this year’s debut and explained that it’s the volunteers’ responsibility to ensure all those lights are working. “We have a couple of people sitting there with a cord, and every light is tested each year. Roughly each year, I’m going to say, 10% of the lights need to be replaced.”

Schmitz explained it takes a lot of unsung heroes. “Some local businesses will send 15 to 20 workers over for a morning or an afternoon. And that’s really evolved. And then, we’re starting to get regulars, just individuals that come every year. So, they kind of know what’s going on too, which makes it a lot more efficient. They can do whatever they did the previous year.”

He says all that support has helped create a new holiday tradition. “I think there’s a lot of families, not only in Sartell, but in St. Cloud and the surrounding area, that do come out every year. And you know, I think if it ever went away, it’d be a big-time disappointment because it is the only event like this in the area.”

They start getting the larger pieces ready in mid-September and store them until it’s time to put them out.

Friday’s theme is Firefighter Night with free s’mores and their big red trucks. Events are held every Friday and Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The lights are on every evening from dawn to dusk and will go dark after New Year’s Eve. That evening, the event goes out with a bang thanks to a fireworks display to welcome 2025.

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