CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Officials with the Salango Law Dirty Birds Light the Night event are celebrating another year of an increase in attendance and community impact.
Andy Shea
According to a release, overall attendance for the six-week event was over 100,000 customers who came to see the lights, eat food, play games and enjoy carnival rides at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston.
They also said that nightly attendance was the highest recorded since the event started in 2023.
Along with breaking attendance records, they were able to partner with numerous schools, churches, and other nonprofits to donate nearly 10,000 tickets to patrons.
They were also able to host five donation drives with local nonprofit’s including:
-Canned Food Drive in partnership with Mountaineer Food Bank -2,977 pounds of donated food with over 430 tickets given away
-Toy Drive in partnership with Spark of Love Foundation-450 toys donated with 150 tickets given away
-Toy Drive in partnership with WCHS and Union Mission-over 100 toys donated
-Laundry Detergent Drive in partnership with Maddox Potter Foundation-over 280 donations with over 245 tickers given away
-Coat Drive in partnership with United Way-over 85 coats donated with 70 tickets given away
“I have received calls from people across the country in the baseball, zoo, and other entertainment venue industries in envy of Light the Night and asking what our key to success are,” Dirty Birds Owner and CEO Andy Shea said in a news release. “The core of Light the Night is the incredibly supportive and caring community. The goal for 2026 is to partner with even more organizations and to continue growing all angles of this event!”