From 2012
Dollywood, Dolly Parton's Tennessee amusement park, pulls out all the stops during the holidays.
Four million lights adorn the grounds, and stage shows include Appalachian and gospel holiday music,
an ice show, productions for the kids and a nightly Parade of Lights. [KC]
San Antonio River Walk Lights (San Antonio, Tex.)
The San Antonio River Walk, a park that runs alongside the San Antonio River in Texas,
turns into a sparkling wonderland during the holidays.
Revelers can stroll along the river, visiting shops and restaurants, and enjoy the sight of almost 2 million lights,
which are strung along the River Walk's 22 street bridges and 170 trees. [KC]
Garden Lights, Holiday Nights (Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, Ga.)
Nearly 1 million LEDs are crafted into nature-inspired displays at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Bees, butterflies and other “lighted pollinators” illuminate this urban garden,
and some 200 color-changing topiary forms are synchronized to holiday tunes.
This year, wander through the "Starry Night Walk," which draws inspiration from Van Gogh's famous painting. [SW]
Nothing shouts “Christmas” like the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree,
a tradition since the first official tree-lighting ceremony in 1933 (though the ritual began in 1931).
Tens of thousands crowd the sidewalks flanking the Channel Gardens for the event,
and hundreds of millions watch the tree lighting ceremony broadcast live and replayed around the world. [SY]
Hyatt Extreme Christmas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Mark and Kathy Hyatt bought their Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home with an eye toward decorating it for Christmas.
They’ve been decking these halls since 1990, with the display getting splashier each year.
The Hyatts aren’t bashful about bragging rights.
"No display anywhere in the country can match up to Hyatt Extreme Christmas,”
the couple boasts on their website. [SW]
Cruise of Lights (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
You don’t climb into a car to see this holiday light extravaganza in coastal California.
Instead, you climb aboard a boat and cruise the waterways that run between Huntington Beach’s man-made islands.
From the water, you can take in the painted scenes and light displays — some professionally installed —
that decorate the multimillion-dollar homes dotting the shore. [SW]
The holiday “miracle” doesn’t happen in Manhattan.
It occurs hundreds of miles south of the Big Apple, on one block in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood.
The popular Christmas light displays put on by these merrymakers on their own 34th Street
— dubbed "Christmas Street" at the holidays — dates back more than six decades.
Thousands flock to witness the spectacle. [SW]
Chickasha Festival of Lights (Shannon Springs Park, Chickasha, Okla.)
Oklahoma's Chickasha Festival of Lights began as a modest effort to increase the area's sense of community.
Today, families ride carriages, drive or stroll beneath and beside more than 3.5 million lights strung throughout the 43-acre park,
including a 172-foot-high Christmas tree. All displays are created locally and more than 1,200 volunteer participate annually. [CB]
Coeur d'Alene Holiday Light Show (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho)
True to its bucolic image, Coeur d'Alene begins its annual festival of lights celebration
with a candlelit parade through the town center.
More than a million electric lights are on display during the month of December
— it's the largest waterfront light spectacle in America —
and children travel by boat to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. [CB]
Omaha's entire downtown shines during December's Holiday Lights Festival,
when more than 40 blocks of lights brighten the Midwestern night sky.
The festival includes ice skating in the Old Market and New Year's Eve fireworks from the Gene Leahy Mall.
Revelers are invited to visit Yuletide-themed exhibits at the Durham, Joslyn and Omaha Children's museums. [CB]
Spanish Fork Festival of Lights (Spanish Fork, Utah)
Every festival of light should have penguins and polar bears,
and the Spanish Forks Festival of Lights doesn't disappoint, with six glowing penguins joined by several gleaming polar bears.
The two-mile spectacle also celebrates its recent Olympic history by including a 40-foot ski jump, skiers on lighted mountains and speed skaters. [CB]
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