It’s been a holiday tradition for years, but it’s going to look quite a bit different this year.

Fantasy of Lights will be back at Franke Park on Monday, Nov. 18, but there will be a new entrance/exit, more displays, and a technological advance.

“Everything is going to be different, including the placement of every single display,” said Tony Hudson, CEO of Blue Jacket, the nonprofit that runs the holiday spectacle that runs every day through Dec. 31. “Thanks to the new entrance, we have an entirely new route which allowed us to rethink and add that extra mile. Not only that, but half of that mile will be synchronized to music that is broadcast into cars.”

New features

Yes, instead of entering via Sherman Boulevard, the new entrance will be on the west side of the park off Goshen Road, which became accessible Friday, Nov. 8.

The new entrance will be a welcomed for many who waited in backed up traffic along Sherman Boulevard and Franke Park Drive.

“There will be a lot less frustrated drivers this year,” Hudson said. “I feel like traffic congestion will be at an all-time low. We’re not concerned with (traffic backups) on Goshen Road, just because with that new entrance, it allows cars to queue an extra quarter mile. Meaning, many of those cars will be in queue while others are paying inside the park.”

A recently unveiled app, which was developed by Reusser Design in Roanoke, will also play in a role in cutting down congestion.

“This app, we hope, will help with traffic congestion because people can purchase before they get there, zap the phone — they’re in,” Hudson said of the app you can download free by searching “Fantasy of Lights” in your app store. “The 15-second transaction turns into a 2-second transaction, helping cars get through quicker. Also, they can check wait times before they jump into the car and embark.”

Getting in the loop

Once inside, you’ll want to kill the headlights and follow the loop that leads to Foellinger Theatre, where you’ll come across Pines of Partners 1st in the overflow area, adding the extra half-mile. There, you’ll see 32 tree displays that are synchronized with music on 91.7-FM.

Following that, you’ll get back on the loop that will take you back along the former entryway, until you come back around to where you began.

“We’ve been planning all the new amenities, the entrance, and realignment since Jan. 3 — since we were done last year,” Hudson said. “We doubled the size of our field team. We had five people, now we have 10. That’s kind of our maintenance and tear-down crew.”

That crew began putting the displays up in late August. In all, they erected 186 displays, including more than 700 individual pieces, in the 3-mile loop.

Helping fulfill mission

In doubling the size of the field team, Blue Jacket is also fulfilling their own mission of finding employment for those in need of work.

Hudson said Fantasy of Lights is not only a family tradition but a tradition that helps people.

“One hundred percent of the proceeds, every sponsorship, every fee that carloads pay at the gate, goes directly toward programming,” he said.

Fantasy of Lights had been around 20 years when Blue Jacket was given the opportunity to take control of it. 

 “In 2014, we were investigating a gala, breakfast, dinner, lunch, any other type of fundraiser that could possibly bless our organizational programming,” Hudson said. 

“The core of our programming is a two-week training that this year will graduate about 260 people, that will impact about 400 people. It’s called Blue Jacket Academy. It’s all soft-skilled based. It’s based on how to get and how to keep employment. So, anyone with a barrier toward employment. It’s for someone who can’t read or write to someone who has two college degrees and fell on hard times or made a mistake and committed a crime. Or maybe it’s someone with a college degree from another country and has limited English-speaking aptitude. Those are all people with barriers that we serve.”

And according to Hudson, Blue Jacket’s need has only increased in the last few years.

“The number of people going through our programming this year is almost triple two years ago,” he said. “Demand is really high post-pandemic. During the pandemic, anyone could walk down the street and get a $19/hour job just by walking in. Employers needed help badly. We’re in a new economic climate and there are more and more people saying, ‘I don’t feel like I can prove my value in an interview or in a job-searching process right now. I need your help, Blue Jacket. I need your network. I need your help.’”

And with fundraisers like Fantasy of Lights, you can help the nonprofit while checking out a holiday spectacle that employs Blue Jacket clients.

“It helps with awareness, No. 1,” Hudson said of Fantasy of Lights. “No. 2, the proceeds from this event subsidizes our programming fully. No. 3, it actually helps with jobs.”

It’s also just a fun time for the family.

“I’m hoping it just gets better and better for everyone, from the 98-year-old great-grandma to the 8-year-old great-grandchild,” Hudson said.