Festival of Lights

Festival of Lights: see Hanukkah.

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Lights, Festival of

Mid-November to January

The biggest event of the year in Niagara Falls, New York, is its Festival of Lights, which is held for about eight weeks during the Christmas holiday season. The falls themselves are illuminated, as are displays throughout the town featuring more than 200 life-sized storybook characters in dozens of animated scenes. There is an arts and crafts show, a toy train collectors' show, a boat show, a doll show, and magic shows. There are also numerous sports tournaments. Musical events include performances by internationally known singers, gospel choirs, bell choirs, steel drum bands, jazz groups, and blues bands. During the festival more than half a million lights adorn the city, which was the site of the world's first commercial hydroelectric plant in 1895.

CONTACTS:
Niagara Falls Tourism
5400 Robinson St.
Niagara Falls, ON L2G 2A6 Canada
905-356-6061; fax: 905-356-5567
www.niagarafallstourism.com

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Lights, Festival of (Ganden Ngamcho)

November-December; 25th day of 10th Tibetan lunar month

This Tibetan Buddhist festival commemorates the birth and death of Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), a saintly scholar, teacher, and reformer of the monasteries, who enforced strict monastic rules. In 1408 he instituted the Great Prayer, a New Year rededication of Tibet to Buddhism; it was celebrated without interruption until 1959 when the Chinese invaded Tibet. He formulated a doctrine that became the basis of the Gelug (meaning "virtuous") sect of Buddhism. It became the predominant sect of Tibet, and Tsongkhapa's successors became the Dalai Lamas, the rulers of Tibet.
During the festival, thousands of butter lamps (dishes of liquid clarified butter called ghee, with wicks floating in them) are lit on the roofs and window sills of homes and on temple altars. At this time people seek spiritual merit by visiting the temples.

CONTACTS:
Office of Tibet
Tibet House, 1 Culworth St.
London, NW8 7AF United Kingdom
44-20-7722-5378; fax: 44-20-7722-0362
www.tibet.com

SOURCES:
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 618