ManitobaThe countdown to Christmas is on, but Winnipeggers may have noticed a little less sparkle downtown this holiday season. The light displays depicting stars, snowflakes and trumpeting angels that lined Winnipeg’s downtown streets for 25 years are now sitting in a city warehouse.Poles the lighting fixtures normally sit on need to be replaced, which could take up to 2 yearsOzten Shebahkeget · CBC News · Posted: Nov 25, 2025 11:08 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The poles that the holiday lighting fixtures normally sit on are due for a replacement, according to the city’s supervisor of public service operations. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)The countdown to Christmas is on, but Winnipeggers may have noticed a little less sparkle downtown this holiday season.The light displays depicting stars, snowflakes and trumpeting angels that lined Winnipeg’s downtown streets for 25 years are now sitting in a city warehouse.Derek Resch, Winnipeg’s supervisor of public service operations, says that’s because the poles that the lighting fixtures normally sit on need to be replaced, which could take up to two years.”I’m sure as the snow hits and people start to get into a bit more of a festive mood, they might start to notice [their absence], because they’re really a landmark display that’s been up for quite a long time,” he told CBC on Tuesday.Manitoba Hydro, which maintains the streetlights alongside the city, says it’s replacing the “heritage” light standards on Portage Avenue and Main Street, which have reached the end of their service life and needed to be removed “before they became a risk to public safety,” Hydro said in a written statement.Hydro is working with the city to get new streetlights to permanently replace the heritage light standards, which will be “roughly similar” to the previous streetlights and will accommodate the holiday lights, Hydro said.The utility hopes to begin installation next year, but said it could be two years before all the new streetlights are installed.The light displays would normally be lining Portage Avenue, seen here Tuesday night, by this time in the year. (Rudi Pawlychyn/CBC)Resch says the city put up five light displays on medians this year, and there’s a new Christmas tree at city hall.There are also other places to see the holiday spirit lighting up Winnipeg, he said.”One great thing about Winnipeg is no matter where you’re driving around our city, there’s lights everywhere and there’s a lot of amazing displays,” he said.”I encourage Winnipeggers to get out, explore different neighbourhoods and see all the amazing displays that the city has to offer.”Some Winnipeggers say they’re already missing the downtown lights.Sarah Manabat said they’re “kind of like a staple of the city.””It’s been kind of sad, actually,” she said. “Me and my family were talking about it — like, where’s the Christmas spirit? Where are the lights?”PHOTO GALLERY | See the city lights in a 2017 collection:Melody Olowo says she’s looked forward to seeing the light displays each year because they bring a nice esthetic to the city.”We hardly have anything like that in Winnipeg … so it brightens up the place, and [at] night, it’s really nice to look at.”The city previously told CBC News that its trove of LED Christmas trimmings lining the lampposts included:340 snowflakes.40 starbursts.45 angels.12 gift piles.6 elves.130 stars.32 curlicues.Winnipeg historian Christian Cassidy says Winnipeg’s use of holiday season light displays can be traced back to 1929, when the Winnipeg Board of Trade — the predecessor to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce — conducted a poll on whether to introduce a fee to pay for them.”The letter that they mailed out to their members went out the day before the stock market crash,” Cassidy said.The displays lit up Winnipeg’s streets on and off after that because of the Great Depression and Second World War, but the lighting program was restarted in 1956, Cassidy said. The displays were replaced with designs lit by LEDs in 1999.”I still think there’s something that people look forward to, and it’s something unique to the downtown that no other part of the city has,” he said.WATCH | Winnipeg’s lit Christmas spirit in 1962:Flashback to 1962, when Portage Avenue was lit up for Christmas This rare archived footage captures the Christmas lights and window displays on Portage Avenue, a beloved and iconic tradition for generations of Winnipeggers. Relive the nostalgia and share your memories of this classic Winnipeg landmark!This month would have been a great opportunity for the displays, with the Santa Claus parade and Grey Cup festivities taking place on the same weekend, said Cassidy.”It was unfortunate that the downtown didn’t look its best.”The city both saved and spent a lot of money to introduce the “very standard” poles that are being replaced, Cassidy said.”I would be kind of surprised if, in a couple years, they’re going to come in and put in fancier street lampposts that can hold the decorations,” he said.”If that’s what the city says, then I hope people hold them to it.”WATCH | Lights out for classic Winnipeg Christmas displays:Classic downtown Winnipeg Christmas lights sit in storage People are noticing a little less sparkle in downtown Winnipeg this holiday season. The Christmas lighting that typically lines Portage Avenue is sitting in a city warehouse and can’t be put up until new poles are installed. With files from Chloe Friesen
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