THE ISLAND PACKET
By Matt McNab
Online Article

The return of the Dove Street Festival of Lights on Hilton Head Island last month helped raise more than $11,000 for two local charities.

The festival, which started Dec. 1 and ended Sunday at its new location at Shelter Cove Towne Centre, raised the money for The Deep Well Project and Projects for Exceptional People, said World Design Marketing president Wayne Johnson.

Deep Well provides assistance for low-income residents and runs a Christmas charity, and PEP serves those with developmental disabilities.

Traffic numbers for the new festival, which returned to Hilton Head in 2014 after a four-year hiatus, have not been tallied yet, Johnson said. The festival had run for 20 years before that in the Dove Street neighborhood of North Forest Beach, where it also raised money for charity.

The festival will return in December and may be larger than the 2014 version. Johnson said the Town of Hilton Head Island was interested in expanding the lights to the new park at Shelter Cove behind the shopping center, and more of the new center will be built by then, bringing in more shoppers during the holidays.

"The plan is for the festival to be a long-term thing there," he said.

Follow reporter Matt McNab at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.