The Office of Arts & Culture - Portland Winter Light Festival

How Portland’s Arts Leaders Help Keep Our Winter Nights Bright

When we asked the Office of Arts & Culture’s Director Chariti Montez what inspired them to champion the Portland Winter Light Festival, their answer began with something that speaks directly to the core of our mission: community investment.

As one of the City of Portland’s General Operating Support grantees, Willamette Light Brigade is part of a group of roughly 80 established arts organizations receiving flexible, unrestricted funding each year. The General Operating Support program, which awarded $2.8 million to local organizations this fiscal year, is funded in part by the Arts Access Fund. In 2025-26, support from the Office of Arts & Culture through this program ensures that the glow of the Festival continues to reach every corner of Portland.

Mirror Mirror on The Ball by Ivan McLean, featuring performance by Jordie Campbell in 2019 📸Remaining Light

The deeper “why” runs far beyond a grant

“In the middle of the coldest, darkest, dreariest season in Portland… the Festival offers a beautiful, much-needed reprieve,” they shared. It brings more than 200,000 people out into the night—sometimes even into the rain—to experience art in public, activate our plazas and underused spaces, and connect with one another in ways that feel essential to the fabric of the city.

Every part of that aligns with their mission to put arts at the center of public life for all Portlanders.

A Festival That Reflects Portland’s Creative Spirit

To the Office of Arts & Culture, the Portland Winter Light Festival has become “a cultural touchpoint”—an annual tradition that helps shape Portland’s creative identity. It strengthens the city’s arts ecosystem by reminding us that “through the darkness—literal or metaphorical—there is light.”

They also highlighted something we’re deeply proud of: the Festival’s ongoing partnerships with property owners to activate vacant storefronts and underused downtown spaces through art. It’s a model for how creativity can revitalize the city, and they’re eager to explore how that work can continue year-round.

Homage To Trogdor by Ivan McLean in 2018 📸Christine Attwood

A Personal Story of Wonder

Their message to the community comes with a memory that perfectly captures what PDXWLF is all about.

“Hands down, the Portland Winter Light Festival is one of my favorite events of the year! … I remember being bundled up, filled with awe and wonder, and a real sense of discovery.” It was 8 or 9 years ago on the Eastbank Esplanade. A cold night, a glowing path—and then, around a corner, a fire-breathing dragon sculpture. “Come to find out—it had been created by someone I knew!”

That sense of delight, and the joy of stumbling upon something unexpected, is what keeps them coming back—and what they hope the Festival continues to bring to Portlanders of all ages. Low-tech or high-tech, analog flames or LED magic—“all the things that light up the night!”

And as they put it:
“I think the festival is a wonderful way to rediscover our city.”

We couldn’t agree more.