Display from a previous year's Holiday Lights in Lindenwood
WEST FARGO, N.D. (KFGO KVRR) – Local businesses and nonprofits are feeling left out of the holiday lights display because of the event being more expensive to participate in and attend now that it’s moved to the Red River Valley Fair.
“We recognize that this has been turned over to a much more commercial aspect rather than a community aspect. There’s nothing that we can say that’s gonna make that different. We’re just disappointed in it. That’s all,” Red River Regional Marksmanship Center Treasurer Lisa Dirk said.
For over 20 years, the display was run out of Lindenwood Park by the F-M Sertoma Club, which donated over a half a million dollars and 40,000 pounds of food to local charities with the proceeds. This year, ownership of the event has transferred to the Red River Valley Fair, which is partnering with a professional holiday decorating company to do the lighting. The Fair announced a new plan for organizations that want to sponsor this year’s display.
“Sponsors will have, instead of coming up to set up their own displays and tear down themselves, we have set them up already. They get to choose between various themes,” Director of Marketing and Events at the Red River Valley Fair Elizabeth Birkemeyer said.
A bronze level non-profit sponsorship for those organizations that displayed in previous holiday lights shows now costs $500. The cost is double that for businesses and $2,000 or more for new sponsors. In previous years, businesses paid $100 while non-profits could sponsor a display for just $50.
“We felt that the holiday lights down at Lindenwood was a good return on our investment. It was fun to do. The fact that they increased the price so much that we can’t afford to do it is disappointing. We always enjoyed that aspect of the holiday season and felt it was a good place for families to go,” Dirk said.
Some previous sponsors have no plans to come back due to rising costs, and others feel like the community charm won’t be there this year.
“We really enjoyed the tradition of putting up our own display and customizing our space which both advertised for our non-profit and a fun activity for our volunteer staff. The new prices are five to 10 times higher than previous years for sponsorships that now include only a basic sign with a logo. For a small non-profit, that kind of increase puts it well out of reach for us,” said Adam Helsene, the chairperson of Anime Fargo 2022.
Organizers are hopeful past sponsors will come back.
“We’ve offered discounts for this transition year to keep people involved and bringing in those non-profits to help us to see what’s going on. We just want everyone to come out and enjoy it to see how great it’s gonna be and make it part of their Christmas traditions. It’ll be about a mile-and-a-half of designs, at least twice as many as last year,” Birkemeyer said
The price to attend the display has also increased at $20 per car, an increase of $12.
Red River Valley Fair officials say the F-M Sertoma Club reached out to them sometime last year about hosting this year’s show. The Fair says a portion of the proceeds from the event will still go to the F-M Sertoma Club for a service project.
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