Where did downtown Brighton's holiday lights stop before the 2023 season? For years the answer was the water. "Previously, all the lighting was focused on the Mill Pond area," Denise Murray, the city's economic development coordinator, told the Livingston Daily that November.
The display that comes on at this year's Holiday Glow and Market, on Saturday, November 21, runs well past the pond. Two things moved it there. The city rebuilt Main Street and put new light poles along its length, and local businesses and residents have paid for the display a tree, a tunnel and a streetlamp at a time. You can read most of the lights downtown as the leftovers of a construction project plus a list of sponsors.
The light poles came first
When the Livingston Daily ran that story in November 2023, Brighton was in the last stage of rebuilding its downtown streetscape. The project narrowed the street, widened the sidewalks, and added new lighting and landscaping. The holiday plan followed the new poles:
"We're looking to extend to the entire Main Street. Anywhere there are the new light poles, there will be lights. We added garlands, added bows everywhere, just to be far more evenly distributed."
Murray said that to the Livingston Daily. In the same article she called the light display the "icing on the cake" of the streetscape project.
That season brought other changes too. Two large Christmas trees went up on either side of the Mill Pond. A 50-foot tunnel of lights went over part of the Tridge, the pedestrian bridge across the pond. And the color scheme changed to multicolored lights from the older white and blue. So the colors, the bows on the poles and the lights reaching far down Main Street all date from the year the street itself was rebuilt.
Every piece has a name behind it
The display was never paid for as one lump sum. In 2023 the Livingston Daily reported that businesses and individuals had already chipped in to help the city's Downtown Development Authority put it up. A Patronicity campaign that year had raised more than $10,000 of its $20,000 goal, with collection running through November 14.
The city went back to donors in 2024 with a bigger list and a higher goal. The Brighton Holiday Lights 2024 campaign closed on November 22, 2024, at $23,510 from 25 patrons against a $25,000 target. Here is how the pieces line up, as the 2023 coverage and the 2024 campaign's display plans describe them:
| Display piece | First on record | Who was credited |
|---|---|---|
| 40-foot "feature tree" at the Mill Pond | 2023 | LOC Credit Union |
| Second Mill Pond tree, about 35 feet | 2023 | Brewery Becker |
| Tunnel of Lights on the Tridge, 50 feet | 2023, planned again for 2024 | LOC Credit Union in 2023 |
| Garland, bows and lights on the new Main Street poles | 2023 | City and DDA, with donor support |
| 85 decorated streetlamps | 2024 campaign plan | Patronicity donors |
| Old Town Hall decorations | 2024 campaign plan | Patronicity donors |
| Lights at the Tridge, the Rolison lot entrance and the AMP | Called "traditional displays" in the 2024 plan | Patronicity donors |
| Three singing trees at the AMP | Listed as new in the 2024 plan | Patronicity donors |
| Lights on 15 trees around the firepit area | Listed as new in the 2024 plan | Patronicity donors |
By 2024 the plan reached past the pond and the main street, out to the firepit trees and the Rolison lot entrance. Every new item on it came through a campaign that asked residents to "Bring the Glow."
This year, sponsor money runs through the Glow itself
For 2026, the money people see most is sponsorship of the event where the lights come on. On October 6, WHMI reported that the Greater Brighton Area Chamber of Commerce was looking for more sponsors, with Cooper & Binkley Jewelers back as presenting sponsor. Sponsors at $500 or more get their logo on the main banner hung on the side of the CoBACH building. A $100 sponsorship puts a business on the big sign near the Holiday Glow stage.
Jennifer Bond, the chamber's director of events and sponsorship, told WHMI what that money pays for. Sponsorship "allows us to create a more magical experience, from the activities we can offer to the attendees, to the services we can also provide, like shuttles and ramps to our Holiday Glow stage." She credited the city for the other half of the work, the "lit up Amp and all the downtown trees."
The chamber's event page also lists Goldfish Swim School Brighton, Rottermond Jewelers, Cook and Hayden Vision Care Center and the CEOffice among this year's sponsors. Cooper & Binkley has been at the top of that list for a while. "We jumped in and have been presenting sponsors for a few years I'd say, and love it," Barb Binkley said on the chamber's podcast, as quoted by WHMI last November.
Planning Saturday, November 21
Here is what the chamber and WHMI have confirmed for this year's event, the Saturday before Thanksgiving:
- When and where. 1 to 7 p.m. along Main Street downtown, free to attend.
- Two stages. The Holiday Glow Stage sits in front of Ciao Amici's, with more live performances at The AMP.
- Activities. Holiday vendors, live reindeer, choo choo train rides, and Santa and Mrs. Claus, who will lead community leaders in lighting the city.
- The market. The chamber's vendor list is already full in jewelry, hot cocoa, donuts and baked goods, and candles.
- Updates. Check the Holiday Glow attendee site for the day's schedule as it fills in.
The 2026 lighting time hasn't been announced yet. Last year, WHMI said the lighting would happen "just before 6 pm," with the station's Chuck and Madison on hand to welcome Santa. In 2023, the Livingston Daily had stage performances starting at 4:30 p.m. and Santa and Mrs. Claus arriving at 5:50 p.m., when Santa joined Mayor Kristoffer Tobbe to light the Mill Pond. Both years put the lighting just before 6, which makes the late afternoon a reasonable guess. The chamber's posted schedule is the one to go by.
What last year's Glow added beyond the lights
The 2025 event filled the hours before the lighting with more than the market. According to WHMI's 2025 preview, Brighton Ballet gave a sneak peek of its Nutcracker at The AMP. The recreational authority set up reindeer games and an obstacle course for "Santas in training" next to the CoBACH building. And the Brighton Library opened an Inspo-lab makerspace in its back children's area, with sewing and Cricut machines, button-making and a 3D printer. The 2026 lineup hasn't been announced, so treat those as last year's program. They do show how much of the afternoon happens off Main Street, around the pond and the library.
On parking, the city's downtown parking map shows 17 public lots with 663 spaces, plus about 300 spaces on the street. No lots have been set aside for the event yet. The shuttles Bond mentioned are something sponsorship helps pay for, but no routes have been published.
Between now and the lighting
Two downtown dates come first. Saturday, October 31, is the last Brighton Farmers' Market of the season, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 200 N. First St. On Saturday, November 7, the Veterans Day Parade runs from 11 a.m. to noon. Both are on the city's 2026 event list.
Two weeks after the parade, the poles that came with the new streetscape get their lights. In 2023 the display stayed up through the end of the year. No date has been announced for when the 2026 lights come down.
If you live within walking distance of the Mill Pond, or you're wondering how close to downtown Brighton you'd want to be when the lights come on, the team at Charles by Reinhart knows these blocks well and is happy to talk them through. Schedule a Consultation, and we can talk about the streets that sit right next to the Holiday Glow.
