Quad City Botanical Center and Wake Brewing team up for ‘Lights & Flights’

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) - The Quad City Botanical Center entered its sixth year hosting its “Winter Nights Winter Lights” holiday display. This year they joined forces with Wake Brewing for a new experience.

The event is named “Lights & Flights,” admission gets you a flight of beer and entry to the light display.

Botanical center executive director, Ryan Wille said it’s a collaboration that shows off what the QC has to offer.

“Craft beer, holiday lights, [and] chilly evenings, I think they go they go hand in hand together,” Wille said. “You take your beer and you kind of wander around the lights. So really, you know, at the end of the day, we want people to experience a real community feel. You’re here with a small not-for-profit organization and a small business across the street. "

The event is scheduled for three nights, Nov. 19, Dec. 15 and Dec. 29.

Wake co-owner Jason Parris said the first event was a success.

“I would say over half the people I’ve never seen before and have never heard of us even though we’re literally across the street from the botanical center,” Parris said. “It was a great moment to meet some potential new customers and treat them to our brand.”

The brewery came up with “Invisible Christmas” a fruited wheat beer, which eventgoers were able to try.

Co-owner, Justin Parris said there’s no better way to celebrate the season and promote the brand than with a holiday-themed beer.

“It was kind of like a play on one of our mainstay beers, which is ‘Invisible Oranges’,“ Parris said. “We decided to do kind of more of a, like holiday ... fruit cup experience with the beer itself. We thought that would be kind of neat, for this time of year.”

These kinds of experiences are exactly what the center hopes will set them apart year after year.

“We’ve got five acres of gardens here,” Wille said. “There’s a million ways that we could go about the decor and making sure it’s immersive for the people that are here to see us. "

“Roger Carlson and Friends,” will provide live music throughout the night.

Admission costs $20 and designated drivers can participate for $12. For tickets and more information visit the event page.

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