Bright Nights at Forest Park unveils new 50-foot musical tree

[Music] Bright Nights kicks off its 2025 campaign tomorrow and visitors are in for some special surprises. >> 22 News reporter Nick Antanakis has a special preview of the festivities and breaks down the new attractions. >> Bright Nights is back for its 31st year. Whether you're there for the more than 750,000 lights that decorate Forest Park or the gift shop with locally made treats and goodies, Judy Matt, the mastermind behind it all, is sure it will leave an impact. Yet again, >> we're trying to create memories, good memories. Do we have enough distractions in our life? So to see something innocent like this is what really appeals to people. >> With all of the lights and decorations comes months of preparation. This is Bill Vazina's 18th year managing the setup and he and his crew have been hard at work since midepptember. >> It's a very large jigsaw puzzle from start to end. We have a fiveman crew and I get extra guys on the weekends. We're working weekends now and everybody has to we got to stay on a schedule. >> And with the classic traditions of bright nights comes some new surprises. And one of those new attractions, a 50ft tall Christmas tree. And looking at it through that camera lens doesn't do it justice. This thing plays all your favorite Christmas songs. It's dressed in over 1,800 ornaments. And I mean, look at it. It's five stories tall. We've got to go big. We always have gone big. And you can't get much bigger than a 50ft tree. And that's why everything we do, we try to do is the best quality there is. And we want everyone to come. Once again, we've been selected as one of the top lighting shows in America. And that's really something, you know, be proud of it. >> Bright night starts tomorrow night at 5. And there's also an opening night special. Tickets are just $6 per car. You have to get tickets in advance, so go to bright nights.org to get yours. working for you. Nick Antonis, 22 News.