The City of Edmonton is asking residents to leave their Christmas lights on a little bit longer this year.

As part of the Winterscapes program, Edmontonians have been asked to leave their lights on throughout the dark winter months.

“The idea is to make our neighbourhoods more beautiful in wintertime,” winter city co-ordinator Susan Holdsworth told CTV News.

“January and February are still pretty dark months and it is a really good opportunity to extend the vibrancy and the perception of warmth by leaving the lights up.”

The group also wants residents to think of the lights as winter lights rather than Christmas ones that are removed when the holiday is over.

“By all means, take your Santas and candy canes down but we're encouraging people to leave their lights up,” Holdsworth said.

The idea is one of many that the City is using as a roadmap for bringing joy back to winter.

The committee is also looking at the idea of lighting up welcome signs or downtown buildings to promote Edmonton as a winter city.

With files from Breanna Karstens-Smith