Dillsboro Festival of Lights & Luminaries will be held on Dec. 7 and 8 and Dec. 14 and 15. The celebration begins each evening at dusk and runs until 9 p.m. With more than 2,500 candles in white bags lining the streets, the lights set the town aglow.
Cullowhee-based weather guru Preston Jacobsen plans to blow snow for the festival via his new company, Whee Make Snow. Weather permitting, Jacobsen will create a winter wonderland at the corner of Front and Webster streets where children can make snowmen.
In addition, the town’s merchant “elves” trim their buildings — many of which date to the late 1800s — in traditional white lights. Shopkeepers also stay open late and serve coffee, warm cider, hot chocolate and homemade goodies to visitors. There will be sing-a-longs throughout town, horse-and-carriage rides, Western Carolina University students strolling the streets in renaissance costumes, children’s art in the courtyard, plus Santa and Mrs. Claus setting up shop in Town Hall.
The event is free and open to the public.
www.visitdillsboro.org or 800.962.1911.
I had never seen the color green like that before.
Robert Morgan has a rare and cunning gift: he can sift through the detritus of the past, pluck objects and images from his memory (especially his childhood) and elevate them to the point where they become — in the sense that Joseph Campbell uses the word — “numinous.”
