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Holiday Magic at Thomas Sweet Chocolate
Jan 6, 2021
Something magical has arrived at the Thomas Sweet Chocolate window this holiday season.
Thomas Sweet Chocolate is proud to welcome their official Holiday Village window display this holiday season! Designed by lighting designer and employee of Thomas Sweet Cameron Filepas, families far and from will be able to indulge in the beauty of this stunning village from November 27th-January 6th. This is surely something you do not want to miss.
About the Village (How it started)
Ever since I can remember I’ve been fascinated with lights. The holidays were among my favorite time of year and the shimmering beauty of the season always brought me such joy. I was mesmerized with any miniature villages I would see during the season.
At twelve years old I began collecting village pieces and creating displays on detailed platforms that I built myself. I set them up in my home each year for my family to enjoy. Annually my family attends all sorts of holiday light shows, including the annual Princeton Tree Lighting Ceremony as a way to get us into the holiday spirit! Almost all of my ideas within each village came from the holiday traditions my family had created.
Given what is currently going on in our world , I was concerned that it would affect holiday cheer. More so than ever, I wanted to create a visual that brought back magic to the holidays; a miniature village that all can admire and feel like they are in the middle of a winter wonderland. I am thrilled to announce this is the first time any of my villages will be shown to the public.
About the artist:
Cameron Filepas is a NJ based lighting designer for theatre, dance, and opera. During college he won the 2019 Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival Best Lighting Design Award for his design of Mad Forest at the L. Howard Fox Theatre. Since graduating with a BFA in lighting design from Montclair State University in 2019, Cameron has designed multiple productions in NJ and assisted designers throughout the Northeast. When not designing Cameron is an overhire employee of McCarter Theatre, New Brunswick PAC, and The State Theater. Please visit his website cameronfilepasdesign.com to learn more about his work!
Why Thomas Sweet?
I began working at the Ice Cream store on Nassau Street after the summer I graduated from college as a part time job. I also was focusing on building contacts for my career as a professional lighting designer for theatre. When the pandemic hit, my entire industry shut down and remains so to this day. Thomas Sweet was quite literally there for me in the hardest of times while I could no longer work in theatre. Now working almost full time at the business, I am beyond thankful for the opportunities Thomas Sweet has given me throughout the last several months. Since 1979 Thomas Sweet has been among one of Princeton’s most favored ice cream and chocolate stores. I thought the window of the chocolate shop would be the perfect location to display my village this year.
