ELKHART, Ind. -- Downtown Elkhart held the soft launch of its first Neon Nights light festival on October 15 in Elkhart. The evening coincided with the Downtown Merchant Alliance's Ladies Night.
"When we started looking at how to light downtown Elkhart four years ago, we knew that we had a lot of work to do to make it brighter and shinier and safer. But we also knew that just adding lights becomes sort of a oh they added more lights, so we wanted to do an event this year." says event coordinator, Bil Murray.
The festival is a free public event that will open October 16 and continue on October 17.
Murray says the festival grew out of a citywide effort, begun about four years ago, to make downtown Elkhart brighter and safer.
Organizers raised about $130,000 for the first year. That money came from the city of Elkhart, the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau, corporate sponsor NIBCO, and private donors. The event was planned to fill the gap between summer festivals and the winter holidays. He said Saturday's events at NIBCO Water and Ice Park will include a glow stick roller skating party, where skaters can leave their shoes as collateral and take the skates around downtown.
Ladies Night is a long-running event. Merchant Alliance president Angie Rockenbaugh and downtown business owner Kathy Geiger say this year's hours were extended to noon to 9 p.m.
"It's been going on for years, and this year we decided to do something a little bit different. We extended the hours from noon to nine, and then we also are featuring or sponsoring Cancer Resource Services of Elkhart County. So, a lot of the merchants are donating proceeds from tonight's sales to that cause." says Rockenbaugh.
Participating merchants donated a share of the day's sales to Cancer Resource Services of Elkhart County, and shoppers are encouraged to wear pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.