Why is the Saks holiday light show in NYC cancelled?

One of the most recognizable spectacles of the holiday season is no more: Saks has just announced that its legendary light show on the building’s facade at 611 Fifth Avenue has been canceled indefinitely. The timing of the decision is also quite interesting: the company celebrates its centenary this year.

“For some time we have been considering changing our approach,” a company spokesman said NBC New York earlier today. “We’re not doing a light show this year as we’ve changed our approach to the holiday windows.”

According to the outlet, Saks will still celebrate the holiday, albeit with a focus on the “architectural significance” of the building and address it has called home for the past century.

“In our 100th year, which also marks the flagship’s anniversary, we celebrate the season by honoring the architectural significance of this iconic building, elegantly lighting the facade and framing the holiday windows, and highlighting the fashion that Saks Fifth aims for. Avenue is known ,” the spokesman also said.

You can expect the structure to light up starting this month, with “magical jingles” as the holidays approach.

According to one press release that aired last month, the holiday windows will “showcase outstanding pieces from the top names in luxury set against colorful snowflake fragments, dichroic vinyl and silver harlequin floors.”

As exciting as the new approach sounds, the celebration will very obviously lack the light show that many locals and tourists have come to associate with this time of year in the city.

Luckily, there are still plenty of great holiday things to do in NYC, so you can make sure your season is still as magical as ever, even without the famous show.