Winter WonderLights: Washington Irving's Sunnyside

New Hudson Valley holiday lights show illuminates Rip Van Winkle's dreams

Giant characters, a supersized candyland forest,
life-size eco-sculpted animals, and much more,
all illuminated by tens of thousands of LED lights

Visitors can post video on YouTube and win an iPod touch

Winter WonderLights Promotional Partner: Coca-Cola;
Winter WonderLights Title Sponsor: Entergy Nuclear;
Winter WonderLights Media Sponsor: 100.7 WHUD

TARRYTOWN, NY (November 17, 2008) - The creators of Historic Hudson Valley's renowned Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze are launching a brand-new event in December: Winter WonderLights, a massive holiday lights display taking place in the woodlands at Sunnyside, the historic Tarrytown homestead of author Washington Irving.

Featuring original sculpture and sets created by Broadway designers, Winter WonderLights is a family-friendly holiday event showcasing dramatic views courtesy of tens of thousands of LED lights. The event takes place for 17 evenings, Dec. 11-14, 18-23, 26-30, and Jan. 2-3, at Washington Irving's Sunnyside, 89 West Sunnyside Lane, off Route 9 in Tarrytown. The first reservation each evening is at 4:15.

The event includes 2 miles of electroluminescent wire, 1,500 feet of rope light, 571 theatrical lighting fixtures, and 14.7 miles of electrical cable. In all there will be 68,965 individual points of light.

"With the Bronx Zoo opting not to do a holiday lights display this year, we feel very confident this will be New York's premiere holiday lights experience," said Waddell W. Stillman, president of Historic Hudson Valley.

Taking inspiration from Irving's famous tale of Rip Van Winkle, the Winter WonderLights team is creating an artistic, larger-than-life dreamscape of Rip's visions during his 20 winters of sleep.

"Rip Van Winkle and his 20-year slumber is a great American icon, but Irving is largely silent on what Rip saw during his sleep, which gives us tremendous flexibility during the creative process," said Dina Rose Friedman, site director at Sunnyside.

Winter WonderLights is a walk-through experience set in a wooded portion of Sunnyside's landscape that features peaks, valleys, and towering ancient trees. Visitors will discover fields of ice sculptures, life-size eco-sculpted animals, a supersize candyland forest, magical creatures, flowers, toadstools, and more. All sculptures are made on site; some are created entirely from light.

The creative team
Winter WonderLights showcases the creative work of Jay Woods Design Inc., which provides ambient light at Blaze and is directing all of the lighting for Winter WonderLights.

"This has been one of the most enjoyable projects of my career," said Jay Woods. "It's going to be like no other sight in the world."

Scenic Designer Michael Natiello, a professional artist and the creative director of the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze, is using his talents to create sculptures from unusual elements, such as icicles and cave wall formations that are made from recycled plastic.

Musician Jim Keyes, a contributor of music for the Blaze, also wrote the original score for Winter WonderLights.

"By blending traditional acoustic and orchestral instrumentation with cutting edge sampling and looping techniques, I weaved together the basic elements of Winter WonderLights: nature and electricity; legends and dreams," said Jim Keyes.

Ticket information
Winter WonderLights is held rain or shine and is suitable for children. All proceeds support Historic Hudson Valley, the non-profit educational organization which owns and operates the historic sites and produces these events. The HVBlog features news on all Historic Hudson Valley happenings as well as behind the scenes info. A Winter WonderLights FAQ appears at www.hudsonvalley.org.

Admission to Winter WonderLights is by advanced timed ticket ONLY. Because parking is extremely limited, visitors are charged per car, not per person. A $75 Entry Pass includes parking and admission for everyone in the car. Entry Passes are available online at www.hudsonvalley.org or by calling 914-631-8200.

Historic Hudson Valley members may attend for free on selected nights but need to make advance reservations either online or over the phone. Member tickets include a free shuttle service from the nearby DoubleTree Hotel in Tarrytown as well as free cookies and cider.

YouTube Contest
Video-savvy visitors are encouraged to enter the Winter WonderLights YouTube Video Contest by filming the event, editing their work, and uploading their video (three minutes or less) to YouTube. Four iPod touch prizes, provided by 100.7 WHUD, will be awarded to the four videos that best capture the creativity and excitement of Winter WonderLights. Full contest details and requirements are online at www.hudsonvalley.org.

Sponsors
Winter WonderLights Title Sponsor is Entergy Nuclear Northeast, Winter WonderLights Promotional Partner is Coca-Cola, and Winter WonderLights Media Sponsor is 100.7 WHUD.

Historic Hudson Valley is a network of six historic sites in Sleepy Hollow Country and the Great Estates region; Washington Irving's Sunnyside; Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate, a historic site of the National Trust; Philipsburg Manor; the Union Church of Pocantico Hills; Van Cortlandt Manor; and Montgomery Place Historic Estate.

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