AUSTIN (KXAN) — ‘Tis the season! As holidays festivities ramp up heading into December, so, too are the number of community events aimed at making memories and spreading holiday cheer. Among those include plenty of holiday light displays, designed to elicit plenty of “oh’s” and “ah’s” from attendees.
Here’s a roundup of events to fill your cup with holiday cheer this December.
Austin Trail of Lights
The Austin Trail of Lights is a nationally renowned annual tradition that illuminates Zilker Park each December. Guests are welcomed to visit the display Dec. 8-23, which features more than two million lights, 90 lit-up holiday trees along with over 70 additional displays.
The Trail of Lights is held in Zilker Park at 2100 Barton Springs Road.
(Courtesy: Austin Trail of Lights)
Bastrop River of Lights, Lighted Christmas Parade
Bastrop embraces two traditions each holiday season, illuminating town with its Bastrop River of Lights display along with the Lost Pines Lighted Christmas Parade.
The Bastrop River of Lights launched Nov. 25 and runs daily through Jan. 2. The free event features various lighted displays lining the June Hill Pape River Walk, running from dusk until 10 p.m. each night.
The Lost Pines Christmas Parade will be held Dec. 9 in downtown Bastrop, with festivities beginning at 6 p.m. and wrapping up at 8 p.m. The parade features more than 130 entries, including floats, unicycles, Santa’s helpers and Santa Claus himself.
The City of Bastrop’s Lost Pines Christmas Parade is an annual tradition. (Courtesy: City of Bastrop)
Johnson City Lights Spectacular
The free, annual Johnson City Lights Spectacular includes more than two million Christmas lights, with event organizers adding: “this display is so big, NASA reported seeing it from space!” Holiday lights first lit up Nov. 24 and will be on display from dusk to midnight until Jan. 7 in the historic square off Main Street, in Memorial Park and at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative headquarters.
Holiday lights first lit up Nov. 24 and will be on display from dusk to midnight until Jan. 7 in the historic square off Main Street, in Memorial Park and at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative headquarters. (Courtesy: Pedernales Electric Cooperative)
Lightscape
Held at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, Lightscape is an annual tradition that runs this year from Nov. 17 through Jan. 1. The outdoor trail features more than one million lights illuminating the gardens. Guests can attend each evening from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., with tickets ranging between $18 and $28 for adults, $7 to $18 for children and free entry for kids ages two and younger.
Longhorn Lights
The free Longhorn Lights show reimagines the Drag near The University of Texas at Austin into a twinkling winter wonderland. The new show will run Nov. 29 through Jan. 1 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. each evening, set to music from the UT Longhorn Band. Those interested can drive or walk along Guadalupe Street between 21st and 24th streets to see the burnt orange and white lights, strung up on 24 heritage oak trees.
Longhorn Lights poster (Courtesy: The University of Texas at Austin)
Marble Falls Walkway of Lights
Marble Falls’ Walkway of Lights returned for its 33rd year Nov. 17, hosted by the Marble Falls Chamber of Commerce. Open daily from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. until Dec. 31 at 305 Buena Vista Drive, the display includes more than two million lights within Lakeside Park in addition to more than 350 lit sculptures. It’s free and runs entirely off donations.
Mozart’s Holiday Light Show
Mozart’s Holiday Light Show returned Nov. 9 and runs through Jan. 6. The annual festivities include admission options for a Bavarian marketplace, a silent disco and a nautical light show.
Guests can reserve a table as well as add on holiday-friendly treats like hot cocoa, kettle corn, holiday desserts and Mozart’s merchandise to their reservation.
File photo of the Mozart’s Coffee Roasters annual holiday light show. (KXAN Photo/Andrew Choat)
Peppermint Parkway
Peppermint Parkway returned to Circuit of the Americas Nov. 24 and is on display through Dec. 30. The annual drive-thru tradition features a mile’s worth of holiday displays, millions of lights and a decked out plaza with food, rides, games, activities and more.
The parkway’s hours run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., while the peppermint plaza is open between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Ticket prices begin at $40.
Peppermint Parkway is returning to Circuit of the Americas for the 2022 holiday season. (Courtesy: Circuit of The Americas)
Santa’s Ranch in New Braunfels
For more than 20 years, Santa’s Ranch in New Braunfels have delighted guests on a mile-long excursion through winding country roads adorned with more than 2.5 million lights and Christmas displays. Guests can enjoy homemade hot chocolate, kettle corn and other treats along their journey.
The display opened Nov. 3 and is available through Dec. 31, running from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Single passes cost $37, allowing one vehicle to enter once during the season, while season passes go for $74 and allow unlimited entries for one vehicle throughout the season.
San Antonio River Walk, San Antonio Zoo Lights
The Holiday Lights on the River Walk is a free, annual tradition that illuminates downtown San Antonio each day from Nov. 24 through Jan. 7, with displays lit from 5:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily. The River Walk’s holiday display includes more than 100,000 lights coating bald cypress trees along the famed walkway.
Elsewhere in town, the San Antonio Zoo Lights display kicked off Nov. 18 and runs through Dec. 31, transforming the grounds into a wintry wonderland. Guests can explore the Polar Playground and Cowboy’s Yuletide Trail, with festivities include cookie decorating, petting farms, story time sessions and a laser lightshow. Members attend for free, while anyone over the age of three is required to pay a standard admission ticket.
Carolers sing a Christmas song as they ride a barge on the San Antonio River under holiday lights on the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wimberley Trail of Lights
Hosted at the Emily Ann Theatre at 1101 FM 2325, the Wimberley Trail of Lights‘ walking trail transforms six acres into a holiday wonderland, featuring live entertainment, the burning of a yule log and local businesses and vendors.
The free event runs each night from Dec. 2 to Dec. 26 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. Only the walking trail will be accessible on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25.
37th Street Lights
For decades, Austin’s 37th Street Lights has dazzled residents between Guadalupe and Home streets. The display — with organizers quipping that “these aren’t your grandfather’s Christmas lights” — is put on strictly by volunteers in the neighborhood and runs off donations.
Austinite visit the 37th Street Lights during the 2019 holiday season. (Tim Holcomb/KXAN)
Organizers accept LED Christmas lights, extension cords and weird sculptures as forms of donations.
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