On the
evening of November 23rd, the crowd gathered
for the premiere of Saks Fifth Avenue’s new holiday light show witnessed a sound
and light extravaganza that transformed the façade of the luxury retail store
into a Winter Palace complete with icicles of light, crystal palace spires and
enough pyrotechnics (from Fireworks by Grucci) and music to rival a
Super Bowl halftime show.

After an introduction by Saks president, Marc Metrick, the show
began as 200 choristers from the Oratorio Society of New York and the Cathedral
Choristers of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine streamed onto Fifth Avenue
from inside the store, filling the street with a special rendition of Carol of the Bells and
signaling the start of the light show which featured more than 225,000 points of
controlled light. In addition to viewing the spectacular Winter Palace
premiere, members of the audience were given LED wristbands, called Xylobands,
which interacted with the controlled light elements and fireworks, allowing them
to actually become part of the show.

The evening also included the unveiling of the Saks Fifth Avenue
holiday windows. The theme for 2015 is Winter Wonders of the World, featuring
fashionably attired figures in fantasy-like winter visions of some the world’s
most iconic sights. In one, a Gladiatrix battles above a frozen Colosseum and
in another a mermaid of ice is immersed in the frozen Great Barrier Reef. In a
poignant nod to the recent events in Paris, a window showing an icy Eiffel Tower
includes the hashtag:
PRAYFORPARIS.

Saks Fifth Avenue’s sensational Winter Palace light show is sure
to delight tourists and to capture the eye of even the most jaded New Yorker
throughout the holiday season. It will be on display (every 10 minutes from
4:35-11:35 EST) until January 10, 2016. Customers who want to join in the
Winter Palace experience are invited to visit the Saks social media driven
content hub: http://saksholiday.com/