A view of the 27th Annual Holiday Cactus Garden Lighting ceremony at Ethel M Chocolates Factory in Henderson, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020.
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020 | 10:13 a.m.
One of the most elaborate holiday lights displays in Southern Nevada is functioning differently this year because of the pandemic. And if you haven’t already booked a time to visit the cactus garden at Ethel M Chocolates, you probably will have to wait until next year.
Now in its 27th year in Green Valley, the lights display at the 3-acre cactus garden is still free and open to the public. But this year attendees are required to reserve a spot online, as space will be limited to 240 visitors at a time to allow for social distancing.
Time slots are already completely booked.
Guests will be allowed to spend hour in the garden. They must have their temperatures taken and be wearing masks upon entry.
Also, Santa will again be part of the candy factory’s celebration. But children won’t be able to sit on his lap. Rather, they can greet Santa in front of a plexiglass window on a faux brick wall acting as the outside of his home at the North Pole.
The Christmas lighting event began in the 1990s with one decorated cactus and has grown to be a popular holiday tradition. It now has more than one million lights displayed on 300 species of cactus and desert plants.
“I don’t think it ever gets old,” said Lisa Vannerson, the Ethel M Chocolates marketing manager at. “It’s unreal. It looks better than ever.”
The factory had its lighting ceremony last week to open another season, inviting nominated COVID-19 first responders, teachers and restaurant workers to be part of the festivities.
That group included Desert Springs Hospital emergency room doctor Rod Ballelos, who brought his friends and family. Ballelos was nominated by his fiancé, Geralyn Marcelino.
The upbeat group waved flashing light sticks and drank hot chocolate while waited to tour the garden of color-changing lights.
“When we have to quarantine and stay at home, it’s great to go to a safe event, to be outside and not cooped up in the house,” Ballelos said. “It’s nice to get something back and feel appreciated.”
Alison Szarzynski, 30, a kindergarten teacher at Shelley Berkley Elementary School, was nominated for the sneak peak of the lights display by her husband, Matt.
They go to the light show every year and said they were happy to go Friday, when the event was only open to those who won the contest.
“They put in so many hours people don’t see,” Matt Szarzynski said about teachers.
Visitors to the cactus garden can bring canned food donations for the Three Square Food Bank.
“Of all the years people need help, this is the year,” Vannerson said. “We value the community. We’re not just here to sell chocolate.”
