City: No Trail of Lights this year

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The traditional "Trail of Lights" in Austin will be scaled back this December and turned into walking path with highlights as part of a new festival, city officials said Thursday.

It will be replaced with the 2009 Zilker Tree Holiday Festival - a free, nine-night, family-friendly event that will end at the foot of the traditional, 152-foot tall  Zilker Tree.

The new festival will have a half-mile walking path with some of "the best aspects from the original trail - things you'll recognize" said the city's release. The Zilker Tree lighting ceremony will still take place on Dec. 6. The tree will stay lit until Dec. 31.

The city will run this festival from Dec. 13 to Dec. 21 from 6 to 10 p.m. According to the memo, there will be a perfomance on Dec. 16 at the Zilker Hillside Theatre, but they have not announced the performer yet.

This announcement follows the financial troubles encountered by the Trail of Lights' organizers. Many outside vendors bid to coordinate the full-scale Trail of Lights. Alll the bids, however, wanted to charge a small entrance fee.

"At a time when so many families are having to scale back their holiday plans, I am delighted that the Parks and Recreation Department has put together a program that will allow families to create lasting holiday memories without affecting their personal budgets," said City Manager Marc Ott.

Parking will cost $10, which is $5 lower than in 2008.

The city is unsure at this time whether those bids will be re-evaluated for "future Trail of Lights" in January 2010 according to the memo.