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History | Board of Directors | Contact Us History of the Festival In 1885, Thomas Alva Edison built his winter home in Fort Myers, Florida on the Caloosahatchee River. Throughout the 50 years Edison wintered in Fort Myers, he dedicated time in support of local charities and projects. He died in 1931, having successfully received over 1,000 patents for his inventions. The idea of a celebration to commemorate Edison's life of achievement evolved into the Edison Pageant of Light in 1938, with a Coronation Ball, a parade, a band concert and a memorial service, which began following Edison's death. The successful three-day event needed to accommodate a growing series of events, which later increased to a week-long festival, then ten days, and finally to two full weeks. In 1988, demand for more public events was great, but the pageant membership available to provide volunteer leadership for more activities was limited. The choices were to limit the growth of the public events of the Pageant so they could be handled by Pageant volunteers, or create a new public corporation to assume the responsibility for all events open to the public. In a unanimous vote, the board of directors of the pageant elected to turn over all the public events of the Edison pageant of Light to the new non-profit corporation, the Edison Festival of Light. This paved the road to the possibilities of civic celebration in which the entire community could participate. In 1989, the new organization, the Edison Festival of Light, Inc. officially assumed responsibility for all of the Pageant's public events. There's something for all ages! Come and join in celebrating the spirit of Edison, during Southwest Florida's greatest family tradition, The Edison Festival of Light! |
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