Niagara Falls visitors were in a waterfall winter wonderland this week with the kick-off of the 27th Annual Winter Festival of Lights. The Niagara Falls Review reports that about three million lights illuminate over 120 holiday displays this season.

Mayor Ted Salici told the source that the Winter Festival of Lights is the "perfect winter highlight." He says, "It grows more spectacular every year."

This year, it grew more environmentally conscious, as well. Festival manager Dina Fazio told the Review that most of the displays switched from incandescent bulbs to energy-efficient LED lights because they are "safer" and "use a lot less energy."

Another perk of the LED bulbs is that the displays seem brighter this year, Fazio says.

The Niagara Falls festival seems to demonstrate a trend among holiday displays this year. Cities around the globe are switching to LED Christmas bulbs this season. Londoners incorporated thousands of LED lights in their Covent Garden display, and the city of Chicago will decorate its Christmas tree with 7,000 of the energy conserving bulbs this season.

The Winter Festival of Lights, which usually attracts over a million visitors to Niagara Falls annually, will run through January 4, 2010.