Village of Lights display on hold amid power outages

LEAVENWORTH — As Leavenworth recovers from severe wind and flood damage, the Village of Lights display in Front Street Park for the Christmastown festival will not be illuminated this weekend.

“Leavenworth is known worldwide for its Willkommen spirit. Right now, we are prioritizing the safety and recovery of our community. We are facing unprecedented storm damage,” said Mayor Carl Florea. “We need some time to clear the debris and restore power to our homes and essential services. We deeply appreciate the support and understanding from our friends near and far. The lights and the welcome will be here through February, and we look forward to having you when we can do so.”

The announcement comes as the power grid experiences a wide-scale outage, impacting over 5,000 Chelan County residents. In a joint release, the City of Leavenworth and Chamber of Commerce stated that the primary concern was restoring power to critical medical resources and residents and not overtaxing the system when it comes back online.

During this extended power outage, the Chamber said it would be assessing the damage to trees in Front Street Park and repairing the damage sustained to the lights due to the extreme wind, flying debris, and broken tree branches.

Multiple closures remain on city streets, county roads, and state highways, severely limiting accessibility to Leavenworth and leaving city crews unable to haul off the debris. Recent rising water levels on the Wenatchee and Icicle Rivers have inundated city infrastructure, leading to ongoing flooding concerns. Emergency services are actively responding to the storm’s aftermath.

Following an assessment during the day, city staff identified several damaged parking lots that are currently unable to accept vehicles. The loss of this capacity severely limits parking for those accessing the downtown area. In addition, access to vital hospitality resources, including local restaurants, food vendors, and delivery services, has been compromised due to the prolonged power outage and road closures.

The lack of power expected through Friday, and the resulting recovery needed through this weekend, means that the Christmastown events at the Gazebo and the lights in Front Street Park won’t be returning in force until next weekend.