Enchanted Forest remains a Saskatoon holiday staple

For many people it has become a Saskatchewan holiday tradition — packing their family into a vehicle with festive music playing and touring the BHP Enchanted Forest at Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park.

Over 90,000 people a year tour the light show that began 26 years ago and BHP was sure it would be successful right from the start.

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“The Enchanted Forest was an idea that a couple of people involved with the Saskatoon City Hospital were involved in,” said Hugh Vassos, director of marketing for BHP Enchanted Forest.

“For sure we thought that it had potential, certainly the zoo foundation had the property that was available.”

Light displays vary from the whimsical, like this snowball fight, to the traditional. (Enchanted Forest website/submitted)

Now it’s become so popular that people travel from all over the province to see the lights.

“This has become a major tourist destination. We knew that it had the potential to do that,” said Vassos. “Out of 90,000 people that go through in a year, 40 per cent of those are from out of town.”

The light show conducts entrance surveys to learn how far people are travelling to see the seasonal exhibit.

Vassos said most come from Saskatchewan but they do see some people from Alberta pop by as well.

Like most things, change has occurred over the forest’s lifetime.

“A few years ago we changed all our lights to LEDs,” said Vassos. “Which was the best move we ever made.”

The route has also been expanded, and is now over two and half kilometers long, and uses close to three million lights.

But unlike Clark Griswold’s light display in 1989 film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, the Enchanted Forest takes more than one person to set up.

“It takes quite a crew there’s probably .. close to 20 people that are required to do everything,” said Vassos. “From setup to displays, to hanging lights in the trees .. it’s not a one-man job.”

That setup begins in early September, around Labour Day weekend.

Where do they store nearly three million lights?

“Not in my shed in my backyard,” joked Vassos. “We have trailers that have been donated by sponsors — and they’re huge trailers.”

Vassos said cleanup after the event is a very delicate job, wrapping up the lights to ensure no wires are damaged and no lights are knotted up.

The drive-thru event continues every night until Jan. 5 from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve, at a cost of $10 per person or $35 per vehicle, which includes up to seven people, and children aged five or under are free.

More information can be found on the Enchanted Forest website.

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