Popular light display canceled this year. Here's why

The Space Coast Light Festival – a 1.3-mile drive/walk-thru holiday light display in Palm Bay – will not happen this year "due to reasons beyond our control," organizers posted recently on the event's website. "Due to reasons beyond our control, we have decided to cancel the light festival until further notice," read a message posted to the event's website. "However, we remain optimistic and hopeful. The magic and wonder of the Light Festival is only being paused, not extinguished."

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - The Space Coast Light Festival – a 1.3-mile drive/walk-thru holiday light display in Palm Bay – will not happen this year "due to reasons beyond our control," organizers posted recently on the event's website.

"Due to reasons beyond our control, we have decided to cancel the light festival until further notice," read a message posted to the event's website. "However, we remain optimistic and hopeful. The magic and wonder of the Light Festival is only being paused, not extinguished."

"We are dedicated to bringing back the festival in all its luminous glory as soon as it is feasible."

Peter Moolhuizen told FOX 35 that Fred Poppe Regional Park in Palm Bay, where the light show relocated to in 2022, is a challenging location to host the festive show.

"The park doesn’t have any electric which was a big problem. You know, a light festival without electric just isn’t the same," he said.

Last year, organized spent $20,000 on generators to operate the light show, but could not afford to take on that cost again, on top of normal staff costs – even with the fee for each vehicle to drive through the display.

For nearly a decade the annual light show was held at Wickham Park in Melbourne. However, in 2022, the event was moved to Fred Poppe Regional Park in Palm Bay. Last year, the event's opening was slightly delayed after Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole battered both Florida coasts, causing extensive flooding and damage.

It's produced by the same team who also produces the Brevard Renaissance Fair, which is currently scheduled for Jan. 6 - Feb. 4, 2024 at Wickham Park.

""Having us in three different locations trying to run three major events was just too much for our staff, and it wasn’t fair to the public and it wasn’t fair to the customers so we made the decision not to do it this year," he said.

However, the hope is to bring the event back at some point in the future. One idea is to purchase a 100-acre property to host the light show, as well as other big festivals, he said.