6 Holiday Light Shows and Fun Festivities (and get a call from Santa!)

There are many fun and festive (and designed to be safe during covid) holiday events and places to visit this season. Here are six you don’t want to miss, including an opportunity to get a call from Santa himself.  Check our calendar for more events all season long.

Reverse Holiday Parade 

Enjoy the wonderfully designed floats at the Winter Wonderland Reverse Parade of Lights in Sidney, from the comfort of your own warm vehicle this Saturday, December 7. Take the announcers with you as you drive (very slowly) along the parade route. No cost.

Holiday Light Displays

Be transported into a winter wonderland filled at the Holiday Lights at Lost Creek Reserve in Miami County with over 50 animated light displays. The 1.25-mile driving tour takes you through the woods, down charming farm lanes and past the historic Knoop Homestead aglow with lights. Open Fridays - Sundays all month, the last car is admitted 30 minutes prior to closing. $10/car

Light Up Middletown at Smith Park in Middletown, now in its 15th year, is a fantasy drive-thru light display in Middletown's downtown 100-acre Smith Park. Open all month, admission is by donation - just drop something in the box at the entrance gate.

Journey Borealis at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton is not only an incredible lights display, it’s also in an amazing, one-of-a-kind park. Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park is an outdoor gallery on a monumental scale. Journey Borealis is open all month, and stretches two miles of dazzling lights displays at one of the Riverway’s most beautiful locations. Cost varies per day.

Ohio's Tallest Musical Tree of Light

Towering 200 feet, the breathtaking Carillon Tree of Lights in Dayton Carillon Tree of Light—Ohio’s largest musical tree of light—is not only an undeniable symbol of Christmas in the Miami Valley, it sounds magical as well. The Tree consists of over 20,000 light bulbs on nearly 100 separate strands that come to life each night at dusk and blaze through until dawn for the entire month of December. Visit the tree after dark to enjoy its beauty, but we also encourage you to visit when the bells are playing. Typically held on Sundays, Deeds Carillon concerts are performed by award-winning carillonneur, Dr. Larry Weinstein. No cost.

Calls From Santa and Holiday Lights By Car or By Foot

For over 30 years, Holiday in Lights at Sharon Woods at the Great Parks of Hamilton County offers a one-mile wooded drive through of over a million lights and hundreds of festive displays, all from the warmth of the car. Open through the holiday season, tickets can be purchased online. Once you enjoy Holiday in Lights by car, break your cabin fever and enjoy the festivities on foot! This year’s walks are by reservation only.

Santa is working remotely from the North Pole this year, but that won’t stop him from meeting with everyone on the nice list! Ask Santa Claus to join your family for a video call from the comfort of your own home. Appointments are available Saturdays and Sundays from Nov. 28 to Dec. 20.