USA TODAY 10Best
Best Holiday Lights Display? Readers select Bentleyville "Tour of Lights"
Best Public Holiday Lights Display (2022)
For many people, the holiday season isn't complete without at least one night spent driving around looking at the colorful lights. Our contributors and editors combed the nation for the best, brightest, and most beautiful holiday light shows put on by neighborhoods, cities, and parks. Then we invited our readers to vote for their favorite holiday light displays.
The top 10 winners in the category Best Public Holiday Lights Display are as follows:
- The Lights of Christmas - Stanwood, Washington
- Austin Trail of Lights - Austin, Texas
- Natchitoches Christmas Festival - Natchitoches, Louisiana
- Christmas Town USA - McAdenville, North Carolina
- The Legendary Lights of Historic Clifton Mill - Clifton, Ohio
- Lights Under Louisville - Louisville, Kentucky
- Holiday in Paradise - West Palm Beach, Florida
- Lights on Jeater Bend - Celebration, Florida
- Festival of Lights - Riverside, California
- Bentleyville "Tour of Lights" - Duluth, Minnesota
Photo courtesy of The Lights of Christmas
No. 10:
The Lights of Christmas in Stanwood, Washington features more than a million lights spread across 15 acres at Warm Beach Camp. Costumed characters and dazzling light displays at this spectacular drive-thru event provide a memorable Christmas celebration for guests of all ages.
Photo courtesy of We own the rights to this photo
No. 9:
The annual Trail of Lights through Austin’s Zilker Park features more than two million lights, ninety lighted holiday trees, and over seventy other lighted displays and tunnels. The event attracts 400,000 wide-eyed visitors each year.
Photo courtesy of Karen Hoyt / Natchitoches Christmas Festival
No. 8:
The annual Natchitoches Christmas Festival returns with a festive event featuring holiday lights, food vendors, fireworks and live music on Saturdays. Visitors can enjoy some 300,000 lights and 100 set pieces on display along the Riverbank.
Photo courtesy of Steve Rankin
No. 7:
McAdenville is nicknamed Christmas Town USA for a good reason. Every winter, this small town in North Carolina transforms into a festive, twinkling wonderland, dotted with thousands of lights, dramatic displays and a spirited Main Street. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to Christmas Town USA every December to drive through the 1.3-mile-long route through breathtaking holiday displays — a tradition that dates back to the ‘50s.
Photo courtesy of Clifton Mill
No. 6:
The Legendary Lights of Historic Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio lights up with over four million lights each holiday season. The historic mill, gorge, riverbanks, bridges and trees are covered in twinkling bulbs for the event, which includes a 100-foot "waterfall" of lights. The event also features an outdoor miniature Christmas village, Santa Claus Museum, a Toy Collection from holidays past and Santa's Workshop, where visitors can peek in on Mr. Claus as he checks his list and heads up the chimney to load his sleigh.
Photo courtesy of Louisville Mega Cavern
No. 5:
Attendees of Lights Under Louisville head underground into the passages of Louisville Mega Cavern for this holiday tradition. The popular attraction transforms into a spectacle of more than five million lights with over 850 lit characters. Visitors take their own cars on the 30-minute ride through the world's only fully underground drive through holiday light display for a totally contactless experience.
Photo courtesy of The City of West Palm Beach
No. 4:
Sandi is a 35-foot-tall, 700-ton holiday tree made 100% out of sculpted sand in downtown West Palm Beach in Florida. The city’s annual holiday festival includes entertainment pop-ups, sing-alongs with Sandi, a spectacular light show, and a synchronized dancing water show.
Photo courtesy of Brandon Taylor Photos
No. 3:
Eleven neighbors on Jeater Bend Drive in Celebration, Florida, coordinate their brilliant Christmas house decorations with music as a fundraiser for the homeless and hungry through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. NikkyJ tells us, "the whole community goes all in for making some of the best holiday designs that are synced with music. You may even find some Florida snow or 'snope' as we call it, to recreate a truly northern Christmas in downtown Celebration."
Photo courtesy of Trevor Kamhiriri
No. 2:
The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa’s Festival of Lights returns to Riverside yearly with millions of twinkling lights. The event features light displays and decor both in downtown Riverside and on the front of the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa.
Photo courtesy of Northern Images Photography
No. 1:
Bentlleyville "Tour of Lights," America’s largest free walk-through lights display, invites visitors to walk amid more than five million lights spread across a 20-acre park on the shores of Lake Superior. Guests can get their photo taken with Rudolph, visit with Santa and enjoy free cocoa, cookies, roasted marshmallows and popcorn.
A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to pick the initial nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote.
Congratulations to all these winning light displays!
About 10Best Readers' Choice Awards
Nominees are submitted by a panel of experts. 10Best editors narrow the field to select the final set of nominees for the Readers’ Choice Awards. Readers can vote once per category, per day. For any questions or comments, please read the FAQ or email USA TODAY 10Best.
The Experts
Deborah Fallows
Deborah Fallows is a writer and a linguist. She is... Read More
Deborah Fallows is a writer and a linguist. She is the co-author with her husband, James Fallows, of the national best-selling book, Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, published in May, 2018. Our Towns, the HBO documentary based on the book was released in April, 2021. They recently launched the Our Towns Civic Foundation to support renewal efforts of communities across America. Deb has written extensively on language, culture, travel, and China for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times and The Washington Monthly. Her previous book, Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language, is based on her 3-year experience living and working in China.
Deborah Fallows
Deborah Fallows is a writer and a linguist. She is the co-author with her husband, James Fallows, of the national best-selling book, Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, published in May, 2018. Our Towns, the HBO documentary based on the book was released in April, 2021. They recently launched the Our Towns Civic Foundation to support renewal efforts of communities across America. Deb has written extensively on language, culture, travel, and China for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times and The Washington Monthly. Her previous book, Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language, is based on her 3-year experience living and working in China.
Nikky J
NikkyJ is a theme park super fan, Author of The... Read More
NikkyJ is a theme park super fan, Author of The Solo Theme Park Traveler’s Guide, the founder and owner of ThemeParkHipster.com, a wishful Food Critic, coffee enthusiast, and a lover of life! She currently resides in Orlando, Florida where she enjoys spending time with her husband and two little girls while discovering the beautiful attractions of Florida. You can watch her on YouTube or listen to her podcast.
Nikky J
NikkyJ is a theme park super fan, Author of The Solo Theme Park Traveler’s Guide, the founder and owner of ThemeParkHipster.com, a wishful Food Critic, coffee enthusiast, and a lover of life! She currently resides in Orlando, Florida where she enjoys spending time with her husband and two little girls while discovering the beautiful attractions of Florida. You can watch her on YouTube or listen to her podcast.
Robert Niles
Robert Niles is the founder and editor of Read More
Robert Niles is the founder and editor of ThemeParkInsider.com, an online consumers' guide to the world's leading theme and amusement parks, read by more than 400,000 people each month. It has been named the top theme park site on the Internet by Forbes and Travel + Leisure magazines and was a Webby Award finalist and winner of the Online Journalism Award, presented by the Online News Association and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Robert is a former Walt Disney World cast member and has worked as a reporter, editorial writer, columnist and website editor for several newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register.
Robert Niles
Robert Niles is the founder and editor of ThemeParkInsider.com, an online consumers' guide to the world's leading theme and amusement parks, read by more than 400,000 people each month. It has been named the top theme park site on the Internet by Forbes and Travel + Leisure magazines and was a Webby Award finalist and winner of the Online Journalism Award, presented by the Online News Association and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Robert is a former Walt Disney World cast member and has worked as a reporter, editorial writer, columnist and website editor for several newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register.
10Best Editors
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original,... Read More
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original, unbiased and experiential travel coverage of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.
10Best Editors
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original, unbiased and experiential travel coverage of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.
