Popular lights festival wraps up its summer stay in Mississauga

A huge and popular festival of lights that’s attracted visitors from all over to its Mississauga site concludes its summer run in the city this Saturday.

The renowned illumi–A Dazzling World of Lights, which attracted several hundred thousand visitors during its first run in Mississauga from last September through this past April 10, wraps up its All Summer Long show in Mississauga on Sept. 30.

But not before one last “Doggie Night at illumi” that allows visitors to bring their four-legged friends along to see the show. That takes place this Thursday (Sept. 28) in the evening and all people, whether you have a dog or not, are welcome, organizers say.

Running since June 29 under its summer moniker, illumi: All Summer Long, the show and its 20 million LED lights were initially to stay in town until Sept. 4, but the summer stay was extended by nearly four weeks.

The attraction offers 14 different “universes” and is set up on a huge north Mississauga site near Hurontario St. and Hwy. 407 equal in size to 10 football fields.

After closing the end of September, it will reopen later in the fall for a session that will continue into 2024, according to officials with Montreal-based illumi.

Illumi creator Normand Latourelle said in a news release earlier in the summer that the company is confident it will build on the success of its first run, which drew some 300,000 visitors to the 600,000-sq.-ft. Mississauga site at 7174 Derrycrest Dr.

Organizers say the attraction offers an epic and extraordinary adventure for kids and adults alike.

“Visitors travel to jaw-dropping worlds through a spectacular walking journey. Inventive and surprising concepts are transposed into thousands of larger-than-life light structures that take shape with over 20 million LED bulbs,” they say.

“Cutting-edge programming technologies, high-definition projections that blur the boundaries of reality and animatronic Jurassic creatures that immerse visitors in scenes worthy of Hollywood films also make illumi the family event of the summer not to be missed.”

An illumi spokesperson said earlier this year that the company is working closely with the City of Mississauga to keep the attraction in town “potentially until 2026-27.”

Scheduled to come to Mississauga on several occasions since late 2021, the illumi festival of lights finally opened in the city on Sept. 14, 2022.

Visit the illumi website for tickets and more information.

Here are the 14 “universes” featured in the summer show:

• The Colourful Animal Kingdom
• A Kid’s Paradise
• Tunnel of Love
• The Crazy Boulevard
• The Magic Lanterns
• The Europea Place
• Jurassic Encounter
• The Cavalia Horses
• The Happiest Farm
• The Scarlet Spiders
• The Tree of Lights and its Village
• The Land of Frost
• The Infinite Poles
• Seasonal universe (changes with the seasons)