nOrtHWESt laBOr PrESS | December 15 , 2017 | PaGE 21
a 30-yEar traDitiOn
union electricians light up the Grotto festival of lights
Nearly 40 volunteers from IBEW
Local 48 spent Saturday, Oct. 28,
helping set up the temporary power
for The Grotto’s Christmas Festival
of Lights. Located in Northeast
Portland, The Grotto is a Catholic
shrine and botanical garden meant
to provide spiritual inspiration.
Local 48 and their employers at
the National Electrical Contractors
Association (NECA) have been
involved with the distribution of
power for the Festival of Lights
since its inception in 1988. That
first year the festival ran for just
10 nights with approximately
60,000 lights. It later ramped up to
more than 500,000 lights, and last
year, the festival switched to
LEDs, boosting the light count to
more than 1 million.
The festival now runs from the
day after Thanksgiving through
Dec. 30.
The Grotto says its Festival of
Lights is the largest Christmas
choral festival in the world. It fea-
tures nearly 160 indoor holiday
concerts performed by school,
church and civic choirs. The fes-
tival also has a petting zoo for
children, and holiday foods and
beverages.
More than 55,000 people visit
the festival each year. The festival
runs nightly from 5 to 9:30 p.m.
through Dec. 30 (closed
Christmas Day). General
admission is $11 for adults, $10
for seniors 65 and over, and
military personnel, $6 for kids
ages 3 to 12, and free for children
2 and under. Visitors are
encouraged to bring a donation of
canned or dry food benefitting
Snow-Cap, the East county’s
affiliate of the Oregon Food
Bank. Parking is free.
Members of IBEW Local 48 spent Saturday, Oct. 28, setting up power for The
Grotto’s Christmas Festival of Lights. Among them were David Mullett and
Kevin Miller (below), and Dan Rhein and Sara Wynn (left). This is the 30th
year that union members and their families have helped out.