Photo courtesy of NOVA Parks
Celebrating the success of Ice + Lights are, left to right, Cate Magennis Wyatt, NOVA Parks chair; Michael Nardolilli, NOVA Parks Board Member from Arlington County; Mayor Justin Wilson; Councilman Canek Aguirre; Sean Kumar, NOVA Parks vice chair and member from Alexandria, and Brian Knapp, NOVA Parks Board member from the City of Fairfax.
NOVA Parks Ice & Lights, located in Alexandria's West End, recently welcomed its 50,000th visitor.
"Today we are celebrating 50,000 visitors to Ice & Lights since we opened the show three years ago in 2019," Sean Kumar, vice chairman of NOVA Parks, said Dec. 15.
"In 2018 we were in dialogue with City Council and staff about how to activate Cameron Run better in the winter," he said. "During the summer, we often see nearly 100,000 waterpark users a year. In the fall and spring, our batting cage and mini golf serve the public, but the question was, what could be done in the winter?"
"The answer is what you see before you today," he noted. "Ice & Lights was an all new attraction for the public. We opened in 2019, and we have added new displays and attractions every year to keep it fresh and appealing."
"Not everyone knows that the machine that makes the waves in the wave-pool also functions as a super-computer with some Santa magic," he said. "After crunching all the relevant information, the super-computer had determined that Mayor Justin Wilson is the 50,000th visitor!"
"Thank you, Mayor Wilson, and thank you, Councilman Aguirre, for joining us this evening to celebrate the success of Ice & Lights."
