The Slice from PBS North.

We estimate and prepare for anywhere between 275,000 and 325,000 people.

Our electricians estimate that we have over 6 million lights here at Bayfront Festival Park.

I'm Nathan Bentley and welcome to Bentleyville, a preview to the 2025 season.

Bentleyville is the largest free Christmas, walk through light display in the United States.

Bentleyville was never planned in the first place, so back in 2001, 2002, just simply putting up lights, Friend of mine started facetiously calling it Bentleyville after Whoville, feeling that I was getting carried away with my absurdity of Christmas lights.

And this is just a passion of a of a out of control hobby.

It's completely free.

Giving out free coffee, cookies, hot chocolate, marshmallows.

Our cookie help gives out over 350,000 cookies every year.

We go through over 20,000 pounds of hot chocolate.

and we work for eight weeks.

with the great volunteers coming down from the community helping us put all these lights together.

So it takes us two months to set up, and then we're open for 39 nights, We raised food and toys for the Salvation Army down here.

That was food and toys actually go to seven different, Salvation Army centers or cities throughout northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

so many people have traditions or certain people to come and visit Bentleyville on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve those people are constantly down here every year making their family traditions.

So people that get a chance to experience something that other places don't have.

The Slice from PBS North, presented by the Teberg Fund.