A Classic Peoria Area Holiday Tradition: Getting the Festival of Lights Parade Ready to Roll
EAST PEORIA - Though not blessed with as many citizen volunteers as in the past, the world-famous East Peoria Festival of Lights (FOL) Parade is ready to roll again on Saturday, November 22 at 6:30pm. Following the parade, as per custom, the brightly-illuminated floats (over 500,000 holiday bulbs are used to festoon and light the objects) will be pulled to Fon Du Lac Park for their yearly residence within Folepi’s Winter Wonderland. Let's take a bit of a deep dive into the history of the East Peoria FOL.
Festival of Lights: a bright, colorful history
The original FOL parade was held in 1984, according to Kory Brown, Festival of Lights Chairman, as a continuation of East Peoria’s centennial celebration. The winter parade, which included only a few floats, was supposed to be a one-time event. As with many one-off affairs, however, this one took hold and soon captured the enthusiasm and imagination of the public and business community.
“It started to pick up some speed and some more volunteers started showing up. All of a sudden they were starting to build floats with lights on them that could go down the road in the evening. From there it continued to snowball,” Brown recalled.
Ron Scott, former general manager of the Holiday Inn in East Peoria, is credited with having the original idea for the FOL Parade. He based the concept on a similar, successful promotion by the city of Niagara Falls, New York, where he had previously been employed. Scott saw the impact the parade and festival had on the otherwise-stagnant winter economy in Niagara Falls, and sought to replicate that success here in central Illinois.
Scott’s idea soon found the ear of past East Peoria Mayor Jim Ranney, who greenlighted the event after gaining approval from city representatives following a group trip to Niagara Falls. A business and public campaign soon began, with dozens of local businesses jumping on board by sponsoring floats. More importantly, citizen volunteers began contacting the East Peoria officials to inquire about assisting in the effort to make the parade a grand reality.
The first chairman of the FOL Parade, Maurice Joseph, stated in 1985: “Literally thousands of hours have already been contributed by volunteer labor. The continued support of those volunteers and new people who want to be involved makes this city the envy of other towns in the area.”
“Literally thousands of hours have already been contributed by volunteer labor. The continued support of those volunteers and new people who want to be involved makes this city the envy of other towns in the area.”
Maurice Joseph, First Chairman of the FOL Parade
The parade indeed caught the eye of other communities throughout the state, and, eventually, the governor’s office. East Peoria took top honors in the Governor’s Hometown Award Program for its 1987 FOL.
Though the number of citizen volunteers has dwindled over the years, the parade and festival’s popularity remains vibrant. The City of East Peoria, realizing the festival, parade and associated events are a boon to the local economy, continues to support the event through local tax dollars.
“It’s a revenue source for us to put money back into these floats,” said Brown. “People (or businesses) no longer sponsor the floats, but they sponsor the festival by purchasing advertisements in our FOLEPI (Festival of Lights, East Peoria, Illinois) guides that we publish every year, and other businesses support us. Some businesses donate to us to keep the parade going.
“Without our business community we wouldn’t be able to do it, that’s for sure. With the East Peoria Chamber of Commerce and all of the departments of the City of East Peoria, we all work together to make this thing go.”
Kory Brown, Director of Tourism and Special Events + FOLEPI Chairman
As usual, it will begin on Dolans Lane and progress 1.5 miles to Springfield Road and Taylor Street near the post office. 39 floats will participate, and the Famous Clydesdales will be in the parade. Folepi’s Winter Wonderland, the post-parade drive-through extravaganza of lighted floats, will open the evening after Thanksgiving, rather than opening on the holiday itself. It will remain open nightly through January 4, beginning at 5pm.
Sunday through Thursdays are considered special event nights, providing free and reduced price offers. The offers include Chick-fil-A Monday, Elevate Trampoline Park Wednesday, Dairy Queen Thursday and Culver's Sunday. On Tuesday drop off letters to Santa himself during Letters to Santa Tuesday.
The completion of East Peoria’s Levee Park Phase II project means the return of the Enchanted Garden. Its new location on a big, lighted stage in the Levee District will include a giant holiday tree and lighted arch for photo opportunities, as in years past.
WMBD will be live-streaming the parade to their social media and web outlets, allowing anyone in the world to tune in on ciproud.com.
Volunteers needed to keep parade afloat
The massive effort to bring the FOL and FOL Parade to life requires thousands of man-hours stretched out over the course of nearly a year. Lately, the effort to produce the events has been attended to by a dwindling crew of volunteers.
“We now have five to ten volunteers who help out year-round working on the floats and things like that,” said Brown. “As recently as 1999 there were as many as 700 volunteers, though not all working at once. On parade night we will have close to 100, with around 40 drivers for the floats, the walkers, and everyone else who helps out. It’s my job to get the word out that we need some new people to help out.”
In appealing for new volunteers to help keep the FOL and FOL Parade (ahem) afloat in the future, Brown offered several methods for people to reach out to him. Potential volunteers, including individuals and groups, can send an email to folepi@cityofeastpeoria.com or call the East Peoria City Hall. Brown can also be contacted through East Peoria’s East Side Center, where he works, during business hours.
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