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Nikka Yuko Winter Lights Festival sees significant growth

Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden welcomed nearly 17,000 during the its recent Winter Lights Festival.

That’s a huge 16% increase in attendance from the previous year.

Nikka Yuko attributes the higher number of visitors, in part, to new programming and attractions as well as what’s been a milder-than-normal winter.

Executive Director, Michelle Day says the partnerships they’ve formed in the community have made a positive impact on the Winter Lights Festival as a whole.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Garden is now waiting for a final decision from City Council next week (Mar. 9) on construction of a new community facility which would allow the garden to expand its programming year-round and increase revenue generating opportunities through the creation of a larger retail space, café, and venue rentals.

“During our busy nights we see an average of 300 guests per hour through our Visitors Centre,” says Day. “As this festival grows, we will continue to look for ways to maximize the garden’s potential and create a seamless experience for our guests and their families.”

City Council is looking at possibly removing some planned projects from the current Capital Improvement Plan as a way to save costs as the UCP government tightens the provincial purse strings.

The Nikka Yuko project is one of those up for discussion.

Patrick Siedlecki
Patrick Siedlecki
Pat has been a mainstay in the CJOC News department from the time the station launched in 2007. He's been in the position of News Director since then and has been anchoring daily news casts as well as reporting and working behind the scenes. Community is important to him and keeping CJOC listeners and readers informed about what's happening across southern Alberta and beyond. Pat has been in radio broadcasting for the past 24 years, starting in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in 1997 and then moving up island to Nanaimo for another few years before heading to Lethbridge in 2007. Pat grew up in the small Saskatchewan farming town of Foam Lake. After high school, he went to Western Academy Broadcasting College (WABC) in Saskatoon prior to moving to the island. Pat also spent several years broadcasting hockey in the BCHL as well as seven years as the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Pat has been working at Cornerstone Funeral Home in Lethbridge as a Certified Life Celebrant and Funeral Assistant since 2016. News and sports have always been Pat's passion from the time he was a teenager and he's always been grateful to have had the opportunity to make that part of what's been a fun and long radio career!
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