Who pays to put more than 1.5 million points of light on downtown Rochester every November? For most of the show's history the answer has been spread across organizations, sponsors and fundraisers. Since the 2025-26 fiscal year, the answer has been much simpler. The Rochester Downtown Development Authority carries the whole budget on its own books, and the 2026 figures in its October meeting packet show what that costs.
The bill also explains the calendar. The Festival of Trees, the tree sponsorships and the merchant events that fill the weeks before Lagniappe are all part of the funding.
The line item that moved in 2025
In March 2025, Rochester City Council declined an inflation-tracking increase to the Principal Shopping District assessment. It approved a two-year assessment at 0% each year instead. That left the PSD $68,471 short for FY2025-26 and $97,738 short for FY2026-27, according to a budget memo to the DDA board ahead of an April 2, 2025 special meeting.
The memo says the board wanted "to protect the events and staff that our community has come to expect." The fix it proposed included "bringing back Big Bright Lights back from PSD." Before the change, the DDA sent the PSD a $200,000 contribution toward the show. After it, the DDA took on the show's full cost and its sponsorship revenue directly.
| What the records show | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cost to light five blocks of Main Street, 2023 season, per the Wall Street Journal | $275,000 |
| Old DDA contribution to the PSD for the show | $200,000 |
| DDA light show budget, FY2025-26 | $319,300 |
| DDA light show budget, FY2026-27 | $328,879 |
| Budgeted sponsorship revenue, each year | $75,000 |
| Festival of Trees budget, FY2026-27 | $47,294 cost, $6,000 revenue line |
Set those numbers side by side and the DDA's share comes into focus. With sponsorships taken out, the FY2026-27 budget leaves $253,879 for the DDA to cover, roughly three-quarters of the cost. By far the largest revenue source in the DDA's budget is current property taxes, budgeted at $2,340,460 this fiscal year. The DDA budget lists that money as tax-increment capture, meaning tax revenue the DDA collects from within its downtown district.
These are budget figures, not final spending. As of September 30, 2026, the DDA's revenue and expenditure report showed $18,670 spent against the $328,879 light show budget, and no sponsorship revenue had come in yet. Most of the season's spending and fundraising still lies ahead.
What the money pays for between September and Thanksgiving
Most of that spending is physical labor. MLive's November 2025 feature described a local crew from Dan's Excavating Inc. that starts at the end of September, with cranes along the road and workers stapling strand after strand onto buildings. Two to four utility workers spend seven to eight weeks covering 121 buildings so the display is finished by Thanksgiving.
That timeline is why the bucket trucks on Main Street in early fall are part of the show. Electricity for the lights also needs planning ahead of time. At the September 16 DDA meeting, staff reported they were arranging "the necessary utilities for the kickoff of The Big, Bright Light Show" and meeting with Channel 7 about site visits for Lagniappe.
Why the DDA calls it economic development
A budget line of this size needs a reason, and the DDA has said what it is. When the Wall Street Journal profiled the show in December 2023, Kristi Trevarrow, who heads the downtown, told the paper:
"The lights are not an event. They are economic development at its core."
Trevarrow told the Journal that commercial vacancy was above 10% before the first show in 2006 and was 2% to 3% when the story ran. Nathan Hamood of Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters said his business jumps 50% in December. Catching Fireflies was moving a block and a half closer to Main Street, and co-owner April McCrumb said she expected gift shop sales to rise 20%. Heather Tocco of Home Bakery said foot traffic multiplies when the lights are on and that new customers come back later for wedding cakes.
The Journal also showed that the lift isn't the same for every business. Tony Lipuma said Lipuma's Coney Island, which his father started in 1969, gets a small boost from the lights but is busiest in warmer months. Businesses add their own money too. Jeweler Paul Haig said he spends as much as $15,000 a year on the Santa Claus above his store's entrance. In MLive's 2025 piece, the DDA estimated the show draws 1.5 million visitors a season.
The November weeks that help pay the bill
This is where the calendar and the budget meet. On its 2025 auction page, the DDA called the Festival of Trees auction "our largest fundraiser in support of not only The Big, Bright Light Show but our small businesses." Last year's flyer listed $1,000 sponsorships for 7-foot themed trees and $500 sponsorships for 4-foot trees, each with two Cocktail Preview tickets included.
The festival has a new home this year. In 2025 it filled the Rochester Community House. For 2026, the Festival of Trees moves to The Graham at 265 E. Second, the building that also houses the winter farmers market. The ticketed Cocktail Preview Party is Friday, November 20, at 7 p.m., with a strolling dinner, a silent auction and the first chance to bid. Public days are Saturday, November 21, and Sunday, November 22, with doors opening at 10 a.m. both days. Admission is free, and all proceeds go to the light show.
So a bid on a decorated tree at The Graham goes toward the strands Dan's Excavating has been hanging since September. The day after the festival closes, Lagniappe kicks off the show.
The season, in order
Some of these dates require action ahead of time. Others only require you to show up. The list runs in calendar order from publish day, all from the DDA's 2026 events calendar unless noted.
- Friday, November 6, 10 a.m.: Online presale opens for Downtown Cookie Stroll tins, $40 each. Pre-registration is required. The stroll is Saturday, December 12, with two sessions, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m., and each tin collects 12 cookies from participating businesses.
- Monday, November 9, 5 to 7:30 p.m.: The Holiday Expo, which the DDA calls the official start of the holiday season, with more than 60 vendors and free admission.
- November 20 to 22: Festival of Trees at The Graham. Buy preview tickets in advance; the public days are walk-in.
- Monday, November 23, 6 to 9 p.m.: Lagniappe, now in its 53rd year, kicks off The Big, Bright Light Show. The name is a Creole word for "a little something extra," and merchants use the night to thank the community.
- Nightly through January 17, 2027, 5 p.m. to midnight: The lights.
- November 24 to December 31: The Holiday Edition of Drink Local, with named seasonal drinks at participating downtown businesses.
- November 27 and 28, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.: Plaid Friday, when the DDA encourages shoppers to wear plaid, followed by Small Business Saturday.
- December 4, 4 to 10 p.m., and December 5, noon to 10 p.m.: The Kris Kringle Market, modeled on European open-air Christmas markets, with specialty foods, fresh greens and wreaths. DDA staff notes mention a Santa's Village and a warming tent in the plans.
- Sunday, December 6, 2 p.m.: The Rochester Area Hometown Christmas Parade, themed "Winter Wonderland Wishes."
- Saturday, December 12: The Cookie Stroll, for those who bought tins.
Downtown has also added a few new ways to spend a lights evening. Harrison's, from The Roxy's owner, now occupies the former D'Marco's space at Fourth and Main, a change covered here in October. As of the DDA's October 21 report, 14 restaurants were taking part in the new social district, and the DDA was aiming to launch it by Lagniappe.
The cookie tins are the first deadline, at 10 a.m. Friday. After that, the most useful date to circle is Saturday, November 21, when the Festival of Trees opens to the public at The Graham and its auction starts paying for the show that Lagniappe kicks off two days later.
If you'd like to talk about downtown Rochester, from its holiday calendar to what life within walking distance of Main Street looks like, Jane Evans is happy to share what she knows over coffee whenever it suits you. Let's Connect.