Saskatoon's Forestry Farm goes dark after successful enchanted forest run

(Hayatullah Amanat/CTV News)

That's a wrap on the 26th annual BHP Enchanted Forest, which illuminated the holidays for more than 80,000 visitors from around Saskatchewan this year.

It looks like another successful year for the joint venture between The Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation and the Saskatoon Zoo Foundation.

With that, the bright lights at Saskatoon's Forestry Farm are dark now, with the event wrapping up Sunday night.

Organizers are pleased with attendance numbers for this year's event, which preliminarily show just over 80,000 visitors. That's down slightly from last year, but Mother Nature could have played a part.

The kickoff to the event included the Blue Cross Walks on November 14 and 15. "The weather was very cooperative for those first two nights, and then we got into some big storms. So, you know what? Overall, we're happy," Dawn Woroniuk, CEO with the Saskatoon Zoo Foundation, told CTV News.

The nights of the big snow events saw fewer vehicles due to driving challenges around the park. City crews did come and clear snow to help out. The snow was followed by ice ruts when the weather warmed up, creating more difficult conditions at the site. Even with these challenges, the spirit of the season shone bright.

The theme this year was "Where Tree Tops Glisten," and Woroniuk says feedback from visitors indicated that the extra lights installed on the trees were noticeable and appreciated.

"We had a lot more trees done, and I personally feel that we definitely lit up the forest even brighter this year than we did last year. So, we're looking forward to seeing what's going to come in future years," she said.

Organizers will take a couple of months off, then reconvene in March to start planning next year's event. Lights will be dismantled soon, which, according to Woroniuk, is a much quicker process than putting them up. They get stored on the back lot of the Forestry Farm in about eight trailers until next fall, when it will all start again.

Money raised through the event will go to support The Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation and The Saskatoon Zoo Foundation. Woroniuk says a dollar amount is not known yet, as final tallies are still being completed. Since the event started in 1999, $6 million has been raised for the charities.