The winter-long illumination festival known as the City of Lights begins Monday evening with lighting ceremonies at Town Square Park and elsewhere in Anchorage and Eagle River. About a quarter-million little white lights will be ablaze starting about 6:20 p.m. Monday, said Stacy Schubert, a spokeswoman for the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, sponsor of the festival.

Most lights will stay lit until the last musher crosses the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race finish line in Nome sometime in March, Schubert said. Homeowners and businesses throughout the Municipality of Anchorage also are invited to participate by lighting as many white lights as possible.

This year, the 19th year of the festival, is special, Schubert said. The lights, she said, will reflect the community spirit exemplified by Anchorage's winning of a 2002 All-America City Award in June. Town Square will be decorated in red, white and blue lights to celebrate the award, Schubert said.

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