It’s hard to believe that the Niagara Falls Winter Festival of Lights is 30 years old. This world renowned Festival has become a family tradition for thousands over the years. With over 3 Million sparkling lights over a 6km route, the Winter Festival of Lights (or WFOL as us locals like to call it) transforms Niagara Falls into a Winter Wonderland. This year the Skylon Tower is going to be revolutionized. Many locals referred to the Skylon Tower as “Niagara’s largest Christmas tree” with strings of lights cascading down towards the base of the Tower.

However, 2012/2013 is going to be a Winter of wonderful changes throughout the city. The Tower will now be illuminated using 12 special projectors along with three image projectors that will project images on the underside pod of the tower. “It’s going to be light years from what it once was. Literally, you will have a nightly light show occuring on the Skylon Tower every night during the Festival of Lights,” says Dino Fazio, Festival General Manager.

The opening ceremonies begin at 5:45 pm on November 3rd which will include a one-hour stage show, a musical salute to the holidays that concludes with a magical appearance from Disney’s Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who will flip the giant light switch that will illuminate all of the displays. The Festival continues until January 31st, 2013.

If you haven’t been, here is what others are saying about the Festival. The Niagara Falls Winter Festival of Lights was included in the Top 10 Canada’s best winter festivals from Canoe.ca, while Frommer’s Travel placed Niagara Falls on its list of Top 10 decorated cities.