What Southern California lacks in snow it more than makes up for with glittering holiday displays. Here’s our 2025 list of holiday light extravaganzas.
OK, all you holiday traditionalists out there: It’s true that Southern California’s balmy winters are a far cry from what Good King Wenceslas spied on the Feast of St. Stephen “ But what Southern California lacks in snow during the holidays, it more than makes up for with oodles of glittering light displays, whichof follows the famous carol’s narrative, because ultimately, Wenceslas was all about bringing more light to the shivering peasant he spotted “gath’ring winter fuel.
” Because many of our SoCal light displays are free, local organizers are sort of continuing the good king’s tradition. Plus, in these modern times, faux snow has become de rigueur in some of SoCal light displays, something the good king might appreciate, because as a rule, our frosts are rarely cruel.Our list is divided into four loose categories: free or paid walk-throughs and free or paid drive-throughs, which you can filter using the navigation bar. Most of these shows are rain-or-shine events, so don’t expect a refund if it starts to drizzle on the night you bought tickets. Dress warmly, bring an umbrella and be grateful that our temperatures rarely dip below 50 degrees. Several of these events are in residential areas where neighbors voluntarily go all out to create holiday displays, so the start and stop dates can be vague. Pro tip: Try to visit the residential light shows on weekday nights, because traffic gets congested on weekends. Better yet, if the area has sidewalks, park your car a block or two away, bundle up and walk the route. If we’ve missed any venues, send an email with details to jeanette.marantos@latimes.com, and we may be able to include them.This Cherry Valley farm’s holiday spectacular promises more than a million lights creating a brilliant wonderland over shorn lavender fields and tall, long-limbed trees. There are dazzling arches to walk under, photos in Santa’s Workshop , an illuminated holiday maze, tractor-wagon rides through the glowing lavender fields, a place to create your own mini gingerbread house and plenty of opportunities for cozy seasonal shopping. Expect live music most weekends and food for purchase at the “fast-casual” 123 Farm Eatery restaurant.Tickets must be purchased in advance. Prices range from $14 to $30 for adults, depending on the day. Tickets for ages 13-17 or seniors 65-plus are $1 less than adult tickets and $2 less for ages 6-12. Children age 5 and younger enter free.South Coast Botanic Garden is partnering with Moment Factory and Fever to present “an enchanted night walk amongst the stars” — a cosmic light show meshing lights, projection and sound into a starry event as you stroll through the garden. The walk-and-gape show takes about 60 minutes.Reserved tickets are required; $35.53 for 13 and older, $31.21 for seniors, students or military and $29.05 for children ages 4 to 12. Children under age 4 enter free. South Coast Botanic Garden members get a 15% discount on tickets but need a promo code from the Garden. Preferred on-site parking starts at $20; off-site parking pass with a shuttle to the gate is $3 available on Saturdays and holidays. Food and beverages may be purchased on-site.popular neighborhood light event, so expect tons of slow-moving traffic — plan at least 45 minutes for the tour — if you choose to drive. Many visitors recommend parking outside the housing tract and walking the route. Public parking and restrooms are available nearby at the Brea Sports Park, 3333 E. Birch St. Some neighbors have traditionally sold snacks and warm drinks from their yards. The city of Brea also limits parking to only one side of the street in the Eagle Hills neighborhood between 4 and 10 p.m. for emergency vehicles.El Segundo’s Candy Cane Lane has been a neighborhood tradition along roughly two blocks of East Acacia Avenue since 1949 . This year, the city is partnering with the neighborhood to bring Santa Claus to the light display every evening at the end of East Acacia Avenue, said Josh Ellis, recreation specialist for the city of El Segundo. For 11 nights, the El Segundo Fire Department will drive Santa from Center Street to California Street and then onto East Acacia Avenue, where Santa will walk the final block to his special couch at the end of the dead-end street. Ellis said Santa will be available to listen to gift wishes, give out little gifts and, of course, pose for photos.and community tree lighting on Dec. 4 at City Hall Plaza from 3 to 8 p.m. with performances, craft activities, free hot chocolate and a visit from Santa, who will come bearing gifts. Ellis said the lighting ceremony is set for 5:30 p.m.Candy Cane Lane is an annual neighborhood holiday decor extravaganza — the kind of 70-plus-year tradition that happens when homeowners work together and get a little competitive about who has the best light display — that start at the intersection of Lubao and Oxnard streets in Woodland Hills. Candy Cane Lane typically starts the first Saturday in December and goes through the first Saturday in January, according to theThe venerable courtyard of Orange County’s only mission at San Juan Capistrano is bathed in lights and oversize holiday decor, with music by the Dickens Era Carolers, crafts for children, a huge nativity scene and photos with Santa .Ticket holders can enter as early as 10 a.m. to tour the mission, but the holiday programming of lights, music and Santa begins at 3:30 p.m. and ends at 7 p.m. when the mission closes.Limited tickets are available at the door, but online purchases are recommended due to high demand; $20 ages 12-59, $17 seniors age 60-plus, $14 ages 5-11 and free for children 4 and younger. Member tickets are $9 regardless of age, and tickets for guests of members are $10.The Channel Islands Harbor Parade of Lights celebrates its 59th year of gaily festooned boats chugging around Oxnard’s harbor. This year’s theme is Rudolph’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Regatta, and the organizers promise an evening of “twinkling lights and rockin’ holiday music,” so you can do some dancing to keep warm from where ever you decide to watch the procession. TheWatching is free, but if you’d like a cozier indoor yet expansive view of the parade that includes dinner, dessert, beer and wine, buy a $150 ticket that supports theThe Grove’s annual holiday extravaganza features masses of lights, a ginormous decorated tree, Santa’s Workshop through Dec. 24 and nightly snowfall .Ontario’s Christmas on Euclid experience began in 1922, when the fire department decorated a tree in the old city hall park with 125 colored electric lights, 2,200 feet of decorations and 900 square feet of cotton batting “for a snow effect,” according to a. The event grew with merchant-promoted holiday extravaganzas such as the time in 1930 when Santa dropped from an airplane and landed on the roof of a bank to toss numbered slips into the crowd. In 1958, the Christmas on Euclid Avenue Committee, sponsored by the Assn. of Commerce and Industry , embarked on holiday programs “that would bring back a traditional respect, and meaning for the celebration of Christmas,” including the construction of 12 illuminated scenes depicting the nativity and life of Jesus with life-sized wood figures carved by Mexican immigrant sculptor Today, the holiday celebration includes a blend of old and the new, with the 12 historic nativity scenes, which visitors can experience through an, and more modern light shows such as the annual Holiday Light Parade, tree lighting ceremony and drone show at Ontario Town Square on Dec. 6, which includes cookie decorating and visits with Santa.The historic nativity scenes are on display from Nov. 27 through Jan. 1 along Euclid Avenue. The Holiday Light Parade & Tree Lighting is Dec. 6 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. A menorah procession is scheduled for Dec. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Ontario Town Square.Christmas Tree Lane officially turns on the lights for its 105th anniversary of lighting the 135 deodar cedars for a near mile along Santa Rosa Avenue in Altadena during its annual Winter Festival on Dec. 6 from 3 to 9 p.m. The free festival features visits with Santa, an arts and crafts fair, food, beverages and a chance to participate in the lighting countdown, which starts at 6 p.m. Traffic will be blocked on the street until 9 p.m., so revelers can safely admire the lights on foot. That’s the only time organizers recommend walking the near one-mile route because there are no sidewalks, and it’s difficult to see pedestrians unless they are brightly lit. After Dec. 6, the lane is a slow-drive-and-gape event, and admiring is free. But the association accepts $40 to offset the cost of stringing lights in the venerable cedar trees and keeping them healthy.You can walk or drive through Oxnard’s 70-acre district of 139 historic homes, most built before 1925, representing various architectural styles, including Mission/Spanish Revival, Bungalow, Craftsman and Colonial Revival. These homes are extraordinary to view any time, but during the holidays, the lights and decor in the Henry T. Oxnard Historic District of Oxnard make the walk all the more special. The houses are clustered on F and G streets between 5th Street and Palm Drive. For more lights, be sure to drive past Oxnard’s 110-foot Christmas tree display — billed as the tallest in Ventura County — at Plaza Park, 500 S. C Street.runs from 5 to 9 p.m. with entertainment, food trucks, a holiday marketplace, the actual tree lighting at 6 p.m. and the arrival of Santa! And for a fun, 50-minute tour of all the lights, along with the gingerbread exhibit at Heritage Square, grab a seat on the doubledecker Holly Trolley Dec. 16-18 at 6, 7 ad 8 p.m. each night. Reservations are required,Dana Point’s holiday revels continue to grow, with lots of lights around the harbor, including its popular Merry Kiss Me display and giant blue whale, through Jan. 4; a large glowing Menorah at the foot of the harbor during Hanukkah from Dec. 14-22; and the annual Boat Parade of Lights Dec. 12-14 — this year with a Carol of the Boats theme, starting at 6:30 p.m. each night. An extra note: If you arrive during the day on Dec. 6-7 and have a Santa fan tagging along, check out Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching’s annual, 20-minute harbor cruises with Santa, between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reservations are required, and tickets are $5 for adults and children, with all proceeds supporting theDescanso’s annual holiday light show stretches a mile through the gardens, with an exhibit that includes a town of stained-glass buildings in the Rose Garden created by sculptorTimed entry every half-hour between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m.; open until 10 p.m. daily, rain or shine, except Nov. 27, Dec. 24 and 25.Tickets must be purchased online, $20 to $38 for adult members; $27 to $45 for nonmembers; $10 to $23 for members ages 2-12, $17 to $30 for nonmembers. Children under age 2 enter free but still require a ticket.Fashion Island’s 90-foot-tall tree has a magical snowfall, music and a choreographed light display every evening through Dec. 28, along with a blanket of dazzling holiday decor. The shopping center also offersto install a free “light spectacle featuring large-scale kinetic sculptures” at the Yard at California Plaza. The show opens with a lighting ceremony with live entertainment and refreshments on Dec. 3 and continues nightly until Jan. 4. The immersive light display includes 10 giant “electric dandelions,” a custom-designed 25-foot-tall LED tree and a “lumiverse” of tall light columns synchronized with rhythm and color. The opening ceremony on Dec. 3 will include a holiday marketplace, a Para Los Niños toy drive, asking people to contribute unwapped toys or essentials such as personal care items, and live music from 4 to 7 p.m.Opening ceremony Dec. 3 from noon to 7 p.m. with a lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. Lights continue nightly from dusk until 10 p.m.Hikari means “shine” in Japanese, and Tanaka Farms is living up to that name with a wagon ride to the Land of a Thousand Lanterns and a walk-through in the Gingerbread Forest with more lights, live music, food for purchase, arts and crafts, barnyard animals, a Christmas tree lot and a chance to take photos with Santa.Open daily 4:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, except Dec. 24-25. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Wagon rides through the lights start are from 5:30 to 8 p.m.Wednesdays and Thursdays: $28 ages 13 and older, $18 ages 3-12 and $14 military with ID. Fridays through Sundays: $33 ages 13 and older, $23 ages 3-12 and $16.50 military with ID. Parking is free on weekdays; $12 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.No surprise, the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica is ablaze for the holidays with lights, decorations, an ice rink and fake snow. The ice rink is open as well. On Holiday Thursdays — Dec. 4, 11 and 18 — visitors can make holiday crafts and listen to the Toyland Brass Band amid man-made snow flurries and hot cocoa. From Dec. 14-21, the Promenade’s Festival of Lights will celebrate Hanukkah by lighting the menorah each night, along with other activities.Holiday lights go on at dusk; menorah lighting Dec. 25 through Jan. 1 at sundown each night; Holiday Thursdays events 5 to 7 p.m. Ice rink is open noon to 10 p.m.Walk along Holiday Road with thousands of twinkling tunnels and scenes bathed in lights of the North Pole, Elf Village, Gingerbread Lane and Christmas Tree Forests, along with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Hot chocolate and toddies are available for purchase.Tickets are $29.35 to 39.64 per person, depending on the night and time. Children ages 2 and younger enter free. Parking is $10.58.Imaginarium is an immersive lantern show with scenes from the Land of Oz, along with Christmas trees and other holiday-themed displays and, of course, Santa Claus. The show also includes a mirrored infinity room, interactive games, carnival games, snowfall and a vast field of 35,000 blooming LED roses that practically begs for selfies. The show promises 1.5 miles of synchronized music and lights, circus performances three times a day, and food and beverage for purchase.Tickets start at $22.50 for ages 13-61 and $18.50 ages 2-12, military people with ID and seniors 62-plus. Family four packs of tickets are $71.50 for weekdays.The L.A. Zoo’s Animals Aglow holiday event features oversize animals, flowers and trees with some serious glow and animation such as one pretty wondrous bright blue peacock, along with the obligatory, eye-popping walk under a shining tunnel. One wonders what the zoo’s residents think?Open from 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday except Nov. 27, Dec. 24, 25 and 31. The admission gates close at 8:45 p.m.$29 to $35 for ages 13 and older, $19 to $25 for ages 2 to 12, depending on the day. Children under age 2 enter free. Member tickets are $5 less than nonmember tickets.to create a mile-long walking trail of glowing musical installations such as floating orange poppy flowers, a sprawling meadow of fiber-optic flowers, a field of fireflies and the tall, peaked tunnel of white lights known as the Winter Cathedral.Timed entry tickets are $31 to 38 for ages 13 and older and $21-23 for ages 3-12, depending on the days. Military families with ID pay $2 less. Member tickets are also discounted. Children ages 2 and younger enter free. Parking is $10-15 depending on the day, if purchased in advance; $20-$25 if purchased at site or day of the event .California Botanic Garden has the state’s largest collection of California native plants, and now visitors can view them at night with special holiday luminaria, live music and food and beverages for purchase.$21 adults, $16 seniors age 65-plus, and students with ID and children ages 3 to 12. Members pay $5 less. Children under age 3 enter free.Here’s an immersive holiday light drive-through with a very appealing price. You can basically fill up your car to experience a 750-foot palm tree tunnel, giant glowing snowflakes and candy canes and some 40 scenes of lighted holiday displays over a winding, mile-long route at Coachella Valley’s Empire Polo Club. Of course, there will be a winter wonderland , festive monster trucks and a “prehistoric” Christmas that features Santa flying in a sleigh drawn by what appear to be four pterodactyls, and life-size LED dinosaurs “celebrating the season” while blowing the minds of paleontologists everywhere.ocean breezes all for free. The 928-foot-long Manhattan Beach Pier is bedecked with lights all the way to the towering lights on theat the end of the pier. Downtown Manhattan Beach has glowing snowflake lights and other illuminated decor in its business area, so this could be a nice way to walk, window shop and enjoy the ceaseless carol of the Pacific Ocean.The 10 acres of trees at Marina del Rey’s Burton Chace Park are covered in sparkling lights Dec. 1-31 for a free festive stroll along the water. On Dec. 13, you can stroll the lights while taking in the marina’s 63rd Boat Parade Spectacular, preceded by a 15-minute drone show and the Voices of Christmas roaming carolers who sing from 4 to 6 p.m. And for an explosive, colorful and thrifty end to 2025, visit the park on New Year’s Eve for the marina’s free annual fireworks display; 10-minute shows at 8:59 p.m and again at 11:59 p.m. with live entertainment, face-painting and other activities for children, and food trucks .Carolers begin roaming the park at 4 p.m. on Dec. 13, along with food booths and art activities for children. The drone show starts at 5:45 p.m., and the boat parade is from 6 to 8 p.m.The historic Mission Inn covers a full city block and is draped with lights, music and moving figures on all sides, but the city festival along the Main Street Promenade extends for several blocks, with lots of lights, food vendors, an ice skating rink, free visits with Santa at his home away from home in Riverside , and live music Thursday through Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m., you’ll need to rent a hotel room , have a reservation at one of theThe annual Christmas Boat Parade, along the scenic canals of Naples Island in Long Beach, has been a tradition for 79 years. This year’s parade is Dec. 20, starting at 6 p.m. with large boats festooned with lights for this year’s theme, A Tropical Winter Wonderland. Smaller decorated boats will head out at 6:30 p.m. The best places to view the parade are on the bridges and waterfronts along the island’s canals, including the bridge sections of 2nd Street and Appian Way as well as Alamitos Bay Marina, according to the Long Beach Visitor & Convention Center. If you can’t make the parade, the island is still a lovely place to walk or float to admire the decorations on the houses lining the canals. If you want to bask in more holiday lights in Long Beach, check out the giant tree and decorations at Terrace Theater Plaza, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., about four miles west of the canals. Theis scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 6. The theme this year is Jingle Jammies, and the goal is to create the world’s largest pajama party by setting a world record for most pajamas worn. Be sure to dress warmly, and remember, spots along the parade route can’t be saved until 4 p.m.has been lighting up the bay for more than three decades, and this year the display includes 50 floating holiday trees and decorations that reflect off the water in a magical way. The lights come on daily at dusk and you can view them for free, along with fire dancing shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. and visits with Santa every Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m., but of course there are opportunities to spend money too, such as s’more making ingredients at the resort’s on-site store, which can be used in the public fire pits , rides on giant inflatables , and multiple food trucks on Thursday and Friday evenings.The floating trees in the bay are illuminated at dusk. The other activities are open from 4 to 9 p.m.Irvine’s Spectrum Center shopping center is decking all its trees with nightly choreographed light shows featuring a 75-foot-tall tree starting at 5 p.m. each evening and, further down the mall, palm trees enlivened by lights and holiday pop music, every 30 minutes starting at 5:15 p.m. Visitors can also hearEvery half-hour for the 75-foot tree lighting, which starts at 5 p.m. each night, and the palm lights show, which starts at 5:15 p.m.So maybe you can’t do all of your holiday shopping on Rodeo Drive, but that shouldn’t stop you from taking a stroll along this iconic street to do some window drooling, uh,, and viewing this year’s lavish ode to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Ballet in gold, red, blue and white. After your walk on Rodeo Drive, check out the larger-than-life tree and ornaments at the Glowing Gardens in Beverly Cañon Gardens, 241 N. Canon Drive, just a couple of blocks away. Need more? On your way in or out of town, visit the Lily Pond holiday light show in Beverly Gardens Park, 9439 Santa Monica Blvd., through Jan. 4 with free shows every 15 minutes from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.which picks up passengers for free Thursday through Sunday from 6 and 9 p.m. through Jan. 4, except Nov 27 and 28, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.Santa Barbara Zoo has added new characters this year to its holiday display of thousands of silk-covered lanterns in the form of animals and exotic plants, including giant butterflies, peacocks and creatures from the African plains and Australian Outback.4:30 to 8:30 p.m daily, except Nov. 27, Dec. 1, 2, 8, 11, 15, 18, 24, 25, 31 and Jan. 1 and 7.Prices range from $20 to $34 depending on ages and dates. Members save $2 per ticket. On-site parking is $11 .Residents of the Seaside Ranchos neighborhood of Torrance, otherwise known as Sleepy Hollow, have been working together to create elaborate residential holiday light displays since 1984. This is an all-volunteer effort. No one is required to participate, but the displays involve about 300 houses and bring in thousands of visitors every year. The city of Torrance puts out cans to collect trash and restricts street parking to only one side of the road for emergency vehicles. There are no public restrooms, and visitors are asked to stay out of people’s yards. Walkers are welcome if they park elsewhere, but if you drive, expect long waits, especially on weekends. The website includes aof the light displays, which are largely located on Robert Road, Doris Way, Linda Drive, Carol Drive, Reese Road and Sharynne Lane. Enter from Pacific Coast Highway on Robert Road.Specific dates have not been announced but generally, members of the neighborhood start turning on their holiday lights the weekend after Thanksgiving and turn them off for the year after Jan. 1.The Bloc open-air shopping center debuts its Sparkle DTLA holiday light show with synchronized music and “18 million hues of light” on Dec. 6, with with face painting, glitter tattoos , a bracelet bar, visits from Santa and the Grinch, and live musical performances. After that, the holiday light show is available nightly through New Year’s Eve.The debut event on Dec. 6 is from 5 to 7 p.m. Starting Dec. 7, the synchronized holiday light show is visible night every hour on the hour at 5 to 9 p.m.Pasadena’s shopping district on South Lake Avenue is laced with holiday lights through Jan. 2, but the biggest celebration is on Dec. 6, with holiday music, live bands and visits from many life-sized holiday characters, including, of course, Santa Claus, who arrives at noon and is available for visits and free photos throughout the day.Holiday Light Up is another long-standing friendly neighborhood competition that benefits everyone willing to get in their cars and drive by to marvel at what ultra-creative homeowners can do to make spectacular holiday decor in their front yards. This is a slow-drive-through-the-neighborhood-and-gape event.This is the 49th year for Ventura Harbor’s Holiday Parade of Lights and Fireworks, a two-day event that includes a kid’s carnival, faux snowfall and live musicians starting at 4 p.m. But the main event begins with the boat parade at 6:30 p.m., when gaily-decorated boats of every shape and size slowly make two tours around the harbor. Visitors can watch for free wherever they can find a good viewing spot along the promenade or in water-facing restaurants, but note that restaurant reservations go quickly, so bundle up if you watch from outdoors.Santa Clarita locals know this Wakefield Court neighborhood as Candy Cane Lane, but it’s better known on social media as the Wakefield Winter Wonderland, a double cul-de-sac street of about 41 homes all lavishly decorated, complete with a ceiling of lights strung over the streets from home to home, from 21900 to 21999 Wakefield Court.reported a mile-long line of waiting cars) and many visitors recommend parking outside of the neighborhood and walking to take in the lights. Nights get cold in Santa Clarita, so dress warmly. In years past, some of the neighbors have kept things warm with outdoor fires or by selling food and warm drinks from their yards. One note of caution, though, from last year’s Facebook page: The route has no public restrooms, “so drink that cocoa at your own risk!”This is the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens’ 29th year of creating a winter wonderland of festive lights in the middle of Palm Desert, with life-size animal lanterns, a tunnel of lights with holiday music, bedecked G-scale model trains with more than 3,000 feet of track, and food and beverages available for purchase. Santa is available for photos through Dec. 24, and the Grinch steps in for his group selfies Dec. 26-30.$22 to $25 . Special bundled tickets of $43 for children and $53 for adults permit people to visit the zoo by day to see its newest inhabitants, theThink of Yolanda Lights as more of an art installation than your typical neighborhood holiday displays. For one, there’s no competition here — it’s just neighbors in the 7300 block of Yolanda Avenue working together to create a dazzling tunnel of lights for a good block on both sides of their street. Visitors are encouraged to walk the route or bring their scooters, roller blades or skateboards to glide through. Just be careful not to mow down any other pedestrians enjoying the view. The idea is built around neighborhood cooperation, not competition, according to the website, and if you’re interested in creating a similar tunnel in your neighborhood, creator and “electronics handyman” Anthony DomingoDec. 5 to Jan. 6 .
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