Local officials are getting ready to light up city hall in blue.

The fourth annual ‘Light It Up Blue’ event is back Tuesday night for World Autism Awareness Day.

Organizer Mark Lyons tells BayToday one in 56 kids right now has autism and this the event means a lot to them.

“I’m friends with a girl that has a little boy that understands, and he thinks this is like Christmas, he thinks it is a special day for a boy with autism,” Lyons says.

Lyons says he talks with parents whose children are now grown, and there wasn’t a lot of activities for them growing up, but that’s changed.

“They’re in the community and into schools, the true thing about the North Stars is special hockey has a place in North Bay, where they don’t have it Sudbury, they don’t have it in Barrie, and the Trackers program where they can teach skiing to kids with special needs,” he says.

Tuesday’s ‘Light It Up Blue’ event goes from 6 pm to 8 pm.

There will be entertainment, information and merchandise booth by P.L.A.Y.S., popcorn, face painting and more.

Filed under: city-of-north-bay, world-autism-awareness-day