✨ Updated for 2025 ✨
It's not yet Thanksgiving, but with the sun setting earlier and the weather getting colder, soon many light displays will open for the season. Here is a guide to several of the best holiday light displays in our area. We've separated options by location and noted prices and if the display is walk-through or drive-through.
= Walk-through displays
= Drive-through displays
Maryland
✨ Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens (Wheaton, MD)
Open: November 21 to January 4 (Closed November 24-27, December 24-25 & Jan 1)
Price: $13-$16 per person
✨ Festival of Lights at the Mormon Temple (Kensington, MD)
Open: December 4 to January 1
Price: FREE!
✨ LuminoCity Festival (Gaithersburg, MD)
Open: November 14 to January 1 (Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas)
Price: $30 to $40
✨ Winter City Lights (Olney, MD)
Open: November 28 to December 29 (select days)
Price: $31 to $39 per person
✨ Miracle on 34th Street (Baltimore, MD)
Open: TBA
Price: FREE!
✨ Frederick Sailing Through Winter Solstice (Frederick, MD)
Open: November 2025 to March 2026
Price: FREE!
✨ Merriweather Symphony of Lights (Columbia, MD)
Open: November 28 to January 3
Price: $25 per car / $14 per person walk through nights
✨ Winter Lights Festival at Seneca Creek State Park (Gaithersburg, MD)
Open: November 28 to December 31 (Closed December 25)
Price: Monday to Thursday $15 per car; Friday to Sunday $25 per car
✨ Festival of Lights at Watkins Regional Park (Upper Marlboro, MD)
Open: November 28 to January 1
Price: $15 online per car; $20 per car at the gate
✨ Lights on the Bay (Annapolis, MD)
Open: November 23 to January 1
Price: $20 per car
DC
✨ Zoo Light at the National Zoo (NW Washington, DC)
Open: November 21-January 3 (Select Dates but could be canceled due to the Government Shutdown)
Price: $6 per person and $30 parking fee (passes needed for entry)
✨ National Christmas Tree (NW Washington, DC)
Open: December 4 to January 1
Price: Free!
✨ CityCenter DC (NW Washington, DC)
Open: November 29 to December 31 - Tree Lighting November 29
Price: FREE!
Virginia
✨ Meadowlark Botanical Garden's Winter Walk of Lights (Vienna, VA)
Open: November 7 to January 4
Price: $19 to $24 per ticket depending on date
✨ Bull Run Festival of Lights (Centreville, VA)
Open: November 14 to January 4
Price: $30 online, $40 at the door per car
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