Meet the man behind the spectacular Niagara Falls lights

If you’ve ever visited Niagara Falls — or even if you’ve only seen pictures — you’ve certainly been dazzled by the colourful displays that light the falls at night. The Niagara Falls lights turn on each evening with such flawless regularity that most people hardly give them a second thought. But have you considered what happens in the background to keep these iconic lights shining? We’re sure you’ll find the answers illuminating!

Meet Linus MacDonald, Lighting Consultant for the Niagara Falls Illumination Board

Linus MacDonald has spent more than a third of his 60-year lighting career as the Lighting Consultant for the Niagara Falls Illumination Board. He’s been responsible for selecting and maintaining the Niagara Falls lights since 1997.

The opportunity came about during an assignment with his previous employer. MacDonald worked for CTV and was in charge of lighting for the network’s annual New Year’s Eve broadcast in Niagara Falls.

“There was not enough light on the Falls for exposure,” MacDonald recalls. “I did a rental package, and I lit up some of the American Falls for a background. A member of the (Niagara Falls) Illumination Board was watching the show that night, and he could see that the lighting was different. He came the next day and asked me if I would look at their lighting because they were having problems with it. I guess it’s fair to say the rest is history.”

What is the Niagara Falls Illumination Board?

The Niagara Falls Illumination Board, created in 1925, is an independent entity that oversees the Niagara Falls lights. Representatives from six stakeholders from Canada and the United States make up the Board. These include city governments, hydroelectrical authorities, and parks commissions. Together, the Board provide the funding and infrastructure to keep the Niagara Falls lights operating each night.

A brief history of the Niagara Falls lights

According to MacDonald, the history of Niagara Falls illumination begins with a bit of lore.

“The story goes that, way back, there was a wealthy (owner of an) electrical company,” MacDonald explains. “There was a terrible electrical storm, thunder and lightning. He observed that the falls looked quite beautiful when the light was on (and) thought, wow, we should light these up all the time.”

The first recorded instance of Niagara Falls being lit at night dates back to 1860. 200 Bengal lights, a type of bright blue flare, illuminated the Falls in honour of a visit by the Prince of Wales.

In 1879, the Falls were lit again, this time with electricity for the first time. A series of carbon arc lights illuminated a visit to the falls by Princess Louise and her husband, Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, the Marquis of Lorne and Governor General of Canada.

The American Falls were lit up at night for a month straight in 1907. General Electric of Schenectady, New York, installed 36 searchlights. For this event, workers were paid 50 cents per hour to stand beside the lights and change films on demand to adjust the colours projecting onto Niagara Falls. The Falls continued to be lit occasionally for Royal visits and special events.

Powered lights become permanent

In the early 1920s, a group of Niagara Falls businessmen lobbied to have the lighting improved and the falls lit more often. The group became known as the “generators,” and they raised enough money to purchase and install 24 new searchlights. As a result, the Niagara Falls Illumination Board formed in 1925 to oversee these ongoing operations. The first permanent lights over Niagara Falls officially turned on during an event dubbed the Festival of Lights on June 5, 1925.

In 1958, the first major update to Niagara Falls lighting took place when 20 carbon arc lights were installed. These exact lights spotted enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain in World War II. Once purchased from Britain and brought to Canada, special plates were added to the front so the lights could project up to 15 different colours onto the falls.

Xenon lights, a type of incandescent light filled with xenon gas to provide better efficiency and life span, replaced the carbon arc lights in 1974. These fixtures were maintained and upgraded throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Finally, the time came to transition from Xenon lights to LEDs in 2016.

For the Niagara Falls lights, LEDs make a big difference

The decision to change the lighting over Niagara Falls from Xenon lights to LEDs presented one of the greatest challenges in MacDonald’s lighting career.

“LEDs were just new. I lost a lot of sleep,” he remembers. “They weren’t making the Xenons anymore. You had to order them, and there were none on the shelf. And the LEDs, people were coming and pushing them.”

MacDonald set out to prove this new technology, albeit while harbouring doubts. He sent a colleague to stand with a light meter on the observation deck between the Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls on the opposite side of the Niagara River. The plan was to turn on a set of LED modules to see how much light would make it across the Niagara Gorge.

“I said to myself, I don’t think you’re going to be able to see it across there,” MacDonald recalls. “I’m really glad that I didn’t say it out loud because you could see it. At that point, that’s when I knew we had something going.”

A $4 million project to replace the Niagara Falls lights

MacDonald replaced the Xenon lighting with multiple grids of LEDs. The Niagara Falls Illumination Board purchased them from Stanley Electric in a project that cost $4 million.

Today, he affirms it was the right decision. There’s been next to no degradation in the lights since they were installed, and only five modules have failed in that time. They provide better lighting coverage, and they also cost far less to operate. MacDonald says switching the Niagara Falls lights to LEDs reduced power use from 84,000 watts to 37,000 watts. It also brought the monthly electricity bill down by 65 percent.

But from the visitor’s point of view, the best part about the change to LEDs is the vast array of colours for operators to choose from. Multiple colours can be projected at once with crisp lines in between to create stripes or simulate flags. It’s a far more interesting visual experience.

How do the Niagara Falls lights change colour?

An operator works nightly in the Niagara Falls lighting control tower. Using two large tablet screens, one for the Canadian Horseshoe Falls and another for the American Falls, the operator instantly changes the colours on demand.

When the operator is on duty, typically until midnight, this person changes the colours manually every 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes they follow a provided schedule, and at other times they pick at random. Some combinations are preprogrammed, or red-green-blue values can be used to apply precise colours.

Once the operator is off duty, the Niagara Falls lights continue to change colour automatically until they shut off at 1:00 or 2:00 AM.

MacDonald’s expertise illuminates the new Niagara Parks Power Station Tunnel

In 2022, Niagara Parks presented MacDonald with a new challenge. Part of the revitalization plan for the newly reopened Niagara Parks Power Station was to light the 670-metre (2,200-foot) underground tunnel leading to the Niagara River as a nighttime tourist attraction.

“I walked up and down the tunnel three times,” MacDonald says. “The conclusion was I had to use eight-foot LED strips.”

Along the full length of the tunnel, LED strips deliver light in three directions. One strip faces up, another faces down, and a third points across the tunnel’s 25-foot width. The result is a dynamic and dazzling lighting effect. Rainbows of colour surround you as you walk through the tunnel to view Niagara Falls from below.

Read about the Power Station and other Niagara Parks attractions >

Where are the Niagara Falls lights located?

The LED grid that lights the Canadian Horseshoe Falls is on top of the Illumination Tower, located next to Queen Victoria Place on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. A smaller set of lights sits on top of the Table Rock Centre. This ensures light reaches all the way to the back of the Horseshoe falls.

If you’ve only ever viewed Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, you may never have noticed the grid of lights that shines on the American Falls. A bunker carved into the Niagara Gorge houses them directly across from the American Falls and underneath the Canadian pedestrian walkway. During the day, a remotely operated retractable door protects these lights from the elements.

There are 1,400 modules of LED lights across these three grids. 480 of these light the American Falls while the remainder illuminate the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. The Niagara Falls lights project across distances that range from 485 to 640 metres (1,600 to 2,100 feet).

What is the schedule for Niagara Falls lights?

The sunset time in Niagara Falls changes with the seasons. This means the schedule for the Niagara Falls lights changes as well. Startup for the Niagara Falls lights varies from as early as 4:30 PM in winter to 8:30 PM in the summer. The lights shut off each night at 1:00 to 2:00 AM, depending on the season.

Have the Niagara Falls lights ever gone out?

Since they were first illuminated in 1925, the Niagara Falls lights have only been shut off a handful of times. Extreme ice build-up around the Ontario Power Generation power station has occasionally caused this, as has a need to conserve power during World War II. In August 2003, shutting off the lights at Niagara Falls helped support the recovery efforts during the blackout that affected eastern North America.

However, since the LED light installation in 2016, not a single evening of illumination has been missed.

“They’ve been on every night since we installed them,” MacDonald confirms.

Can I make a request for the Niagara Falls lights?

Lighting requests are typically displayed on the hour for 15-minute intervals (e.g., from 8:00 to 8:15 PM).Anyone can make a request to have Niagara Falls lit up in a specific colour. However, there’s an application process you’ll need to go through, and the request needs to be approved by the Niagara Falls Illumination Board. Requests by charitable organizations and to commemorate events of public interest are approved most often.

“Not too many nights go by that we don’t have a request,” MacDonald says. “And there are many nights we have four or five requests.”

MacDonald loves to share his passion for Niagara Falls lights

If you’re ever fortunate enough to meet Linus MacDonald in person, his passion for lighting Niagara Falls is certain to come up. Chat with him long enough, and he may even invite you to the lighting control tower to change the colours of the lights yourself.

“It gives me such joy to see people bouncing off the walls in the control room about being able to light the falls,” MacDonald says.

One couple from Germany and their two young sons were among his lucky visitors. MacDonald met them at a campground as they were touring across Canada in a rental caravan.

“They told us they were coming to Niagara Falls,” he remembers. “Of course, I arranged for them (to visit the control tower). I got a letter from them after they returned to Germany talking about how the highlight of their trip in Canada, from coast to coast, was lighting (Niagara Falls). My eyes just filled. It’s just such a privilege to let people see this.”

If you love what you do then you’ll never work a day in your life, as the saying goes. MacDonald relates to this adage very well.

“I am very privileged,” he says. He’s in his 80s and wavers on considering retirement. “I’ve always said I don’t have a job. I have a hobby that I get paid for. I just loving lighting and being excited about getting up every morning and going to work.”

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