Isle of Lights opens Sunday with the Island Park tree lighting

Winfield’s mile-long drive through the lights at Island Park opens Sunday night, right after the tree goes up in color.

The Isle of Lights tree lighting is at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, at Island Park. The Wood family, longtime Isle of Lights volunteers, will light the 18-foot tree this year, and the program includes carols, a blessing, hot cocoa and cookies, according to Wichita on the Cheap’s event listing. When the ceremony ends, the drive opens and the first cars roll through.

Volunteers spent Tuesday, Nov. 10, hauling frames, wiring and plywood figures out of storage and staking them across the park. The board put out its yearly call for help ahead of that workday, the Cowley CourierTraveler reported, with crews working morning and afternoon shifts out of the Soroptimist Pavilion and breaking for lunch at Baden Square.

Hours and cost

After Sunday, the display is open nightly from 6 to 10 p.m. through Dec. 30. Admission is free. Volunteers staff the entrance and take donations, and that money, along with business sponsorships, memorials and grants, pays for upkeep and new pieces.

Weekend nights and the days right before Christmas draw the biggest lines, so give yourself extra time then. The park is at 200 N. Main St. Plenty of families come down from Wichita and in from around Cowley County. The drive itself costs nothing, and a thermos of cocoa in the cup holder is about all anybody needs.

Carriage rides

For a slower trip through, Broken Spoke Clydesdales will run horse-drawn carriage rides through the lights Dec. 13 to 20. Pickup is at Tires N More, 311 Main St. Tickets start around $7 for children and $9 for adults. Tires N More is also planning concessions and other holiday activities on ride nights. The number for questions is (620) 229-4066.

The rides are the only part of the season that costs money. Driving through in your own car stays free every night, so families who want the carriage can still do the drive on another evening without paying twice.

Thirty-plus years of extension cords

Isle of Lights started in 1993 as a nonprofit effort to give Winfield a community Christmas display. It has grown one scene at a time since. Local businesses, families, churches and clubs build and sponsor a lot of them, which is why the drive looks like a tour of the town as much as a light show. A photo from last year’s setup showed Aline Hollingsworth and Amita Phrakonekham of Khao Kham Market helping put one together.

Everything runs on volunteer labor. Every frame and string of bulbs has to come out of storage, get carried into place, staked down and plugged in before lighting night, then come back down after the season closes. Groups that want to help with takedown or sign up for next year can reach organizer Mark Olney at (620) 222-5988.

Shopping downtown

Main Street merchants are running their own holiday push. The Shop Winfield holiday giveaway runs through Dec. 22. Shoppers who spend $25 at participating local businesses can enter drawings for weekly $100 Chamber Checks, which spend like cash at Chamber member businesses around town. Dinner on Main Street and a slow loop through Island Park makes for an easy, cheap night out.

More information is at WinfieldIsleofLights.org. If the weather turns on Sunday, check the group’s page or call the Winfield Arts & Humanities Council at (620) 221-2161 before heading out.