INNISFAIL – Doug Bos never thinks small.
His park by the highway has been a top late spring to early fall attraction throughout Central Alberta and beyond for almost a quarter century.
Three years ago, Bos, the co-owner of the Discovery Wildlife Park, was determined to also make the zoo a top draw from mid-November, through the holiday season and into early January.
He had a bold vision, and he called it Light the Night.
In 2022 he began Light the Night with half a million lights and more than a dozen displays spread over 60 acres in his 90-acre zoo.
Light the Night was meticulously designed as a Central Alberta winter and holiday season destination, where awestruck locals and out-of-town visitors can put their imaginations in overdrive by navigating their vehicles along a two-kilometre route of magic and wonder.
Along the way visitors can still hear and sometimes see the animals that are still in their winter-time outdoor areas, like the camels, lions, deer and wolves.
Even on the park’s campground there are thousands of lights adorning the cabins and along the perimeter of the pond.
And there is also the Grinch that roams inside the zoo’s main building, which is not spared from Bos’ never-ending winter wonderland of light ambitions.
This year Light the Night began on Nov. 15, and will continue every evening until Jan. 5. Price of admission for each guest vehicle ranges from $30 to $100, depending on the number of people.
Since 2022, Boss has added another 500,000 lights to Light the Night. This year he has added 50 new light displays, all built by staff and bringing the total displays to more than 100.
“It kept our employees busy last winter building them. They're a lot cheaper to build than they are to buy,” said Bos. “If I would have to buy all these light displays it would have been $100,000 worth of lights. But because we build them ourselves they're less expensive.”
And like Ray Kinsella’s ball park in Field of Dreams, they will come, they most surely will come.
They have come from the town, throughout Central Alberta and even from points across Alberta and beyond.
Bos said about 27,500 visitors came last year in about 7,000 vehicles to take the 45-drive around the massive Light the Night display.
That total was an increase from the inaugural year of 2022 when the light show attracted 26,000 guests in 6,500 vehicles.
This year he expects to add to that total.
Now in its third year there remains more ambitions for his already spectacular Light the Night attraction.
“It's my intent to add every year until we become the biggest light show in Canada,” said Bos. “We can do it because we'll expand into our new property, which will give us 200 acres to do it on.
“Nobody else has that much land to do it on.”
