Bellevue Cancels Garden d'Lights, Citing Coronavirus Precautions

BELLEVUE, WA — One of Bellevue's most popular holiday traditions will not happen this year due to ongoing efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Garden d'Lights has taken place every night between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve for 25 years. Putting on the event typically requires the help of 130 volunteers dedicating thousands of hours of work throughout the year. The result is half a million string lights crafted into animals, flowers and other nature sculptures placed throughout the garden.

The festival of lights typically draws 90,000 visitors annually, and forgoing this year's festivities was not an easy choice.

"This was a very difficult decision for us, since we know how much this event means to our community," said Cleo Raulerson, incoming co-chair of the Bellevue Botanical Garden Society. "We look forward to returning, better than ever, in 2021."

Some holiday events in Bellevue are tentatively planning to move forward. The website for Snowflake Lane shows the popular Christmas-themed, month-long celebrations scheduled to kick off its 16th year, beginning Nov. 27. Right now, King County remains in phase 2 of the governor's Safe Start reopening plan, prohibiting all large gatherings and events.