OCEAN CITY – Although snow forced its closure on Sunday and Monday, the resort’s Winterfest of Lights approaches its final weekend of operations on pace to exceed last year’s revenue figures.
Winterfest received 1,178 “hearty souls” on Tuesday night, according to Director of Recreation and Parks Tom Shuster. It turned out to be a solid turnout compared to other Tuesday nights, Shuster said.
“One of the interesting consequences of having the snow fall is that the park is full of snow,” Shuster said. “So at night when you drive through the display the lights reflect off of the snow on the ground. So it really does look like a winter wonderland.”
Shuster said Wendesday no damages to the display of lights were caused by the storm.
“We fired them [displays] up yesterday and everything is still working, so it looks good,” Shuster said on Wednesday.
Shuster said everything is in place following the snowstorm, the pathways and walkways are shoveled and cleared and the parking lots are ready to take on cars.
This year looks to be just as successful as others despite the awfully cold weather Ocean City has faced over the last month.
“Right now, it does look like we will lightly exceed last year’s revenue,” Shuster said.
According to Shuster, last winter the Winterfest of Lights revenue reached around $330,000. As of Tuesday night, the revenue had reached a little over $329,000.
“We’re within a $1,000 of matching last year’s total, with five more days to go,” Shuster said.
This Sunday, Jan. 2 is the last evening the public will be able to visit the Winterfest of Lights.
“We are operational and it is pretty cool to see all the lights reflecting off the ground,” Shuster said.