Since 1995, Bright Nights has been a unique public/private collaboration between the City of Springfield's Department of Parks, Buildings & Recreation Management and the Spirit of Springfield, a private non-profit organization.

Together they have welcomed more than 3.8 million visitors. It has been calculated that if every bus that had visited were lined bumper to bumper, they would go from Springfield to Cape Cod. The cars would go as far as California.

Bright Nights at Forest Park started with a flyer from Carpenter Decorating and has grown and become known as the Northeast's premier holiday lighting experience. It has been named seven times as one of the Top 100 Attractions in North America by the American Bus Association, listed on People.com as “One of the Top Ten Holiday Happenings in America,” and been featured in the New York Times, and magazine that include Motorhome, Colonial Homes, Yankee and U.S. Airways, as well as on Yahoo.com.

Expansions since the first season has include the Winter Garden, Jurassic World, Kwanzaa, Everett Barney Mansion, Happy Holidays, Springfield, as well as the additions to Toy Land featuring Milton Bradley Company and Hasbro iconic toys and games, and the Springfield Thunderbirds display. Bright Nights has also been making the transformation to LED (light emitting diode) bulbs in many of the displays. These include the American Flag, Spirit of the Season, Never, Never Land, Seuss Land, Garden of Peace, Jurassic World, Victorian Village, Blizzard Tunnel, Toy Land, Happy Holidays Springfield, the Giant Poinsettia Candles and more.