Christmas Lighting Festival

December 4-6, 11-13, 18-20, 2020

Join us for the most wonderful time of the year, when our quaint Bavarian town becomes a Village of Lights (over half a million of them!) and holiday cheer abounds!

On Friday evenings the lights are all on! Live musical performances of your favorite Christmas songs fill the streets, St. Nickolaus arrives at 4:30 pm at the Front Street Gazebo, who welcomes children young and old with the story of his legacy and “gold” for the good boys and girls! Please note: There is no Lighting Ceremony on Friday’s; lights remain lit.

On Saturdays and Sundays, the festivities kick into full gear at 12:00pm with the arrival of Santa and costumed holiday characters in a march from the Festhalle to the Gazebo!

Throughout the day you will enjoy musical performances in the Front Street Gazebo, including handbell choirs, a top-ranking Army National Guard Dixie band, breakout solo artists, the best high school and professional choirs in the Pacific Northwest, and more!

You’ll also find carolers strolling through town, the smell of roasted chestnuts filling the air, sledding in Front Street Park (snow permitting), a traditional Gluhwein Tent (selling hot spiced wine and cocoa) and costumed Christmas characters (including Santa, Mrs., Claus, and Father Christmas). On Sundays, kids can collect free cookies by following the Cookie Crawl Map!

It all culminates each Saturday and Sunday with the Lighting Ceremony (starting at 4:45 pm) when a bit of pomp and circumstance brings about the lighting of the village with over half a million lights.

We will post the entertainment programs for the Christmas Lighting Weekends closer to the event in December.  Stay tuned!

These weekends are very busy, here are some things you can expect!

We get a lot of folks asking us if we have different lights for the festival weekends than other nights OR if the lights are only on those weekends. We have the same lights on every day of the week, the only difference is on the first three weekends in December, we have a festival on Saturdays and Sundays with all-day entertainment followed by a lighting ceremony, but you will see the same lights if you come any other time (thru Valentine’s)!