The holiday spirit this winter won’t be lost to the worldwide pandemic as a Richmond church is hosting a light-up event just for the community.
St. Joseph the Worker Parish will be kicking off their Light Up Richmond Christmas event with a virtual live stream on Saturday, Dec. 12.
The three-week event will be showcasing multiple Richmond homes that are planning to or have already been decorated with Christmas lights.
Laura Carandang, pastoral assistant at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, said members of the church wanted to reach out to the community during the holidays to “bring some cheer” to those who felt “Christmas was stolen” by COVID-19.
“Our services are being cancelled and we kept hearing on social media that Christmas is being cancelled and stolen from us so we wanted to somehow bring the Richmond community together,” said Carandang, adding that “building a community” is the main message of the whole event.
“Because it’s the Christmas season, we thought the house lights would be a great idea.”
Carandang told the Richmond News that they created an interactive map to make it easier for residents to find the Christmas light display.
The event, she added, will let families enjoy the “festive season while respecting the provincial health orders.”
“Families could drive by the houses without getting out of their cars and see these displays and brighten up their holidays.”
Community members who visit these homes and post photos onto social media with the hashtag #lightupRichmond are automatically entered into a daily draw.
Any Richmond resident can also participate in the light up event by registering their house on the event’s website.
The community event start with a live-steam on Dec. 12 at 5:15 p.m. and continue until Jan. 3.
For more information and to register, visit https://lightuprichmond.ca/
