This holiday season, for the first time ever, Boothbay Harbor, usually settled in for a long winter's nap, will be bustling with activity and aglow with more than 23,000 lights.

Starting Nov. 18, when the Gardens Aglow event at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens begins, the Boothbay region will be joining in to help celebrate the season with its own event — the Boothbay Festival of Lights.

Last year, Gardens Aglow brought 36,000 visitors to the area with its spectacular display of 180,000 LED lights. This year the gardens will be lit up again — with twice as many lights — over 360,000. CMBG Director of Marketing Kris Folsom said the hope is for up to 50,000 visitors this year.

Boothbay Harbor businesses are working hard to become a part of the event at the botanical gardens that drew people from all over Maine and New England and as far away as Florida, Texas and California.

This year, the harbor will be all aglow, too. There will be LED lights — white, multi-colored, holographic balls and icicles — all over town, according to Town Manager Tom Woodin. The town office, the trees on the library lawn, the Whale Park and both ends of the footbridge will all be lit up with sparking lights and decorations.

Many shops, restaurants, and inns that normally close after Columbus Day will be open.

Some shops are adding their own special displays. Slicks owners Adele and Andy Bielli have been hard at work making big round spheres of light, by using clear plastic cups and white LED lights. They got the idea online and set out to make 25 of the approximately 12-inch globes to adorn their building on Townsend Avenue.

On Oct. 26, six volunteers arrived with ladders to help them string the lights up. Fire Chief Nick Upham, Public Works Foreman Chris Leeman, Glen Tilton, Evan Hepburn and Aaron Durgan all pitched in, and Nick Livingston risked life and limbs on the top of the ladder, according to the twins.

“And Peter Sullivan stopped by to eat Chinese food, and Fiona (Dunlap), from Harborside Tavern, donated coffee for all of us,” Adele Bielli said.

The Boothbay Common, at Boothbay Center, will be welcoming visitors on their way to Gardens Aglow and Boothbay Harbor. There will be more lights and decorations than have ever been displayed there during the holiday season. Town Manager Dan Bryer said the common will be adorned with 246 globes, each containing 70 LED lights, and the trees will all be decorated. There will be a light-covered sailboat and two dinghies, and net lights that will be made to look like water. “The boats will look like they're sailing on the common,” Bryer said.

The Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce will be extending its hours and offering a photo op for fun pictures, using a picture board being donated by the Botanical Gardens, according to Visitor and Member Coordinator Luise Lichtenberg.

Two shuttle buses will be transporting visitors from the municipal parking lot in Boothbay Harbor to Gardens Aglow every half hour, beginning at 3:30 p.m. daily. Folsom said people will be encouraged to park in town, check into their lodgings, enjoy some shopping and dining, then head to the Botanical Gardens for the most spectacular light show ever!

Event planner Stefa Normantas, of Green Tree Events, the organization in charge of getting the word out about the Boothbay Festival of Lights, is enthusiastic about what the event will do for the area. “The Boothbay Festival of Lights (will bring) together the very best of the Boothbay region during the holiday season. We’re so excited to see how this can really help support the local winter economy and provide an amazing experience for families and friends visiting the region.”

CMBG will also be sponsoring a lighting contest during the festival of lights and Gardens Aflow. Folsom is encouraging anyone and everyone with a home or business on this peninsula to decorate with holiday lights. The grand prize will be $2,500 and 15 tickets to Gardens Aglow. Sign up for the Gardens Aglow Lighting Contest at gardensaglow.org by Nov. 29.

Along with the Gardens Aglow event, the area will be offering a number of other activities, including the Festival of Trees, Gingerbread Spectacular and Dough Ball, all at the Opera House; the 31st Harbor Lights Festival and the North Pole Express at Boothbay Railway Village.

Both the Boothbay Festival of Lights and Gardens Aglow will continue through Dec. 31.

For more on the Boothbay Festival of Lights, visit www.boothbaylights.com. And for more on Gardens Aglow, visit www.mainegardens.org/calendar-events/gardens-aglow.