Festival of Lights parade in question after organizers drop out

Organizers of the annual Festival of Lights parade through downtown Columbus are ending their role in the annual tradition.

The not-for-profit Jaaks Inc. has run the parade for the city for several years but announced Friday that they will cease producing the Christmas-time events. According to their announcement, there are several reasons for the end including increasing costs for vendors and for liability, plus a lack of parade day volunteers and hard time finding people willing to do the year-round work of the organizing committee.

According to the statement, the board felt it could no longer provide the community with a safe or quality event.

Columbus officials have not yet commented on the future of the parade or if the city plans to again take over the role organizing the event.