CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Salango Law Light the Night event at GoMart Ballpark is expected to be even brighter this year with the addition of 500,000 more lights.
The Charleston Dirty Birds announced the return of the popular Light the Night that starts Friday and will last until January 1.
After holding the inaugural event last year, which brought in hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Charleston area, the Salango Law Firm and the Dirty Birds baseball team are once again excited to host the massive light display at the ballpark this year– this time setting a record with a total of 2.5 million lights. 
Ben Salango with Salango Law and Charleston Dirty Birds Owner and CEO Andy Shea came on 580 Live Thursday to talk about what’s in store for this year’s upcoming Light the Night.
Salango said they already set the record for lights this year, now they hope to do the same with the people.
“Over 100,000 people came last year from over 40 different states, the goal this year is to hit all 50,” Salango said.
Along with the added number of lights, they said there is also an additional number of things to see and do there this year.
Along with having the same features as last year, which included an ice skating rink and Ferris wheel, this year will also include ice bumper cars, a carousel, a round-up ride, and a Rudolph-look-a-like mechanical reindeer. They said kids will also enjoy more inflatables in the new Dusty Play Palace.
The light display itself involves a walk-through choreographed light and music show experience.
Shea said they started talking about what this year’s event would look like about three weeks into last year’s event.
He said they look at it still as being very much a continuous work in progress.
“You know, seeing a lot of the things come to life, seeing the 500,000 extra lights, seeing the pretty much tripling if not quadrupling the amount of activities, rides and inflatables and everything, and it still looks more open, and that’s what I kind of challenge everyone on our staff and crew to look at it as a piece of real-estate,” Shea said.
There’s also new programs coming to the event this year as well.
Light the Night will now be accompanied by the Choir of the Night, which will feature caroling from choirs of local schools, churches, and clubs.
Another new program is Community Organization of the Night, which is Dirty Birds’ partnership with local charities giving them the opportunity to host a table at the event to educate the community about what their organization does.
Salango said it feels good to see the excitement from others as they make their way into the event.
“I would sit at the entrance and I would watch peoples’ faces as they came in, and whether it was the kids seeing if for the first time or some of the nursing homes as they brought their residents over, them seeing it, it’s heartwarming,” Salango said.
In addition to all of the other new features of this year’s Light the Night, they will also be adding new carnival foods to the menu, including deep-fried Oreos, Reese’s Cups, and Twinkies.
Shea said planning for all of this has taken much of the year but it’s all worth it, and he said he couldn’t ask for a better crew to help.
“This is my 20th year in this industry, and I’ve never seen a more hardworking, intelligent, just passionate about what they’re doing, care about the results staff,” Shea said.
The ice rink will now have to accommodate both the ice skating and the bumper cars. Because of this, ice skating will be offered on the rink from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and bumper cars from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Shea said the event will be open every night except Christmas Day.
He said the key is to get your tickets online, which will allow you to bypass the line for tickets at the event and they will be discounted.
Shea said ticket prices vary across the day of the week and the range between children to seniors as well as group packages, but all will stay within the $10 dollar range.