With the winter holidays fast approaching, local communities and parks have begun to create intricate displays of holiday cheer.
One of the most well known and memorable displays is the Winter Lights Festival. Located in the Seneca Creek State Park and hosted by the City of Gaithersburg, the Winter Lights is one of the most eye-catching and popular holiday attractions throughout the county. It features over 365 different displays and 65 vignettes throughout the three and a half mile drive all with bright, twinkling lights. Each display and vignette has its own theme; this year’s include Winter Woods, Teddy Bear Land, Victorian Village, and the North Pole, to name just a few.
The Gaithersburg light show has been a tradition for decades, this year marking its 20th season. According to Wootton High School junior Alex Byck, last year’s array of lights was “truly spectacular” and the “best one yet.”
The park opened on Nov. 27 and will run daily through Dec. 31. On Sundays through Thursdays, the park is open from 6-9pm and costs $12 per car. On Fridays and Saturdays, it is open 6pm-10pm and costs $15 per car.
Brookside Gardens Park also presents a spectacular light display known as the Garden of Lights. This attraction contains over one million twinkling lights shaped into various plants and animals among the more traditional holiday figures. Starting this year, visitors can choose to stroll from garden to garden looking at the lights in person, as opposed to from inside their cars. There is also nightly entertainment provided by local bands and orchestras.
This display opened on Nov. 27 and will run until Jan. 3. It costs $25 per car on weeknights and $30 per car on weekends.
With the holidays fast approaching and the year coming to a close, it is important to cherish the time we have with our loved ones and what better way to do that than while gazing upon thousands, if not millions, of twinkling lights.
Article by MoCo Student Staff Writer Abby McCann of Wootton High School