Tower Hill cancels holiday Night Lights over coronavirus uncertainty
Tower Hill CEO Grace Elton
Due to concerns about a potential second surge in coronavirus cases and deaths later this year, coupled with the lengthy setup and expense involved, Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston has canceled its popular Night Lights holiday event, originally slated for this November and December.
"I know that is going to be a disappointment for a lot of people," Tower Hill CEO Grace Elton said in an interview for the Shop Talk feature to appear in WBJ's June 8 edition.
Typically, Tower Hill will make about 45,000 tickets available for the evening event in November and December where the 171-acre property is decorated with elaborate holiday light displays.
This year, though, Elton said there is too much uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and the potential of another economic shutdown for Tower Hill to purchase the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment to put on the displays. Those purchases have to be made in late spring in order for Night Lights to be set up in time for late fall; plus the botanic garden needs to mobilize a small army of volunteers and paid staff to work on the displays for several months, she said.
After shutting down on March 16 in an effort to contain the coronavirus spread, Tower Hill is reopening on June 8 with limited attendance and special social distancing and safety rules.
For Night Lights, Elton said she and her staff discussed doing a limited engagement, with around 10,000 tickets, but ultimately decided the uncertainty around a second surge of coronavirus posed too much of a risk of the botanic garden having to shut down again.
To read Elton's entire interview about the coronavirus impact on Tower Hill and the plans for the June 8 reopening, see the June 8 print edition of WBJ. The interview will appear on WBJournal.com at 6 a.m. on June 8.
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