EAST PEORIA, Ill. — Less than 10 days before Christmas, East Peoria’s Festival of Lights won ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight” and the grand prize of $50,000 in the heavyweight division.
“For us, I think it’s a testament to 36 years of blood, sweat and tears,” said Mayor John Kahl about winning the contest. “There’s people that have put a tremendous amount of effort behind it.”
At Tuesday night’s council meeting, it was approved to purchase additional LED lights for the parade for just over $17,000.
The city will save more than $6,000 on the lights by buying them in bulk as well as the vendor offering a 25% discount in a year end savings deal.
“We’re going to reinvest [the winnings] and come up with a couple new floats,” said Kahl.
Kahl said LED lighting has made FOLEPI more efficient but more were needed as the light inventory has been “depleted” in recent years as new lights have not been purchased.
As of now, there is no indication of what the new floats will be.
