The countdown has begun for most of the preschoolers in our classrooms! The holidays are just weeks away, and if you’re looking for a night of holiday fun, here’s our list of holiday light displays in Minneapolis-St Paul and surrounding areas! Some events are free and others are ticketed, so check out the details below. Scroll to the end to find a list of south metro houses with big displays!
Twin Cities Holiday Light Shows
Tickets required. ($10 member/$15 non-member, free for children ages 15 and younger.) 16 outdoor light displays, ice sculptures, and s’mores available for purchase.
Tickets required. Driving tour ($35-$60 per vehicle) or walking experience, ($14-$20 per person). Open through mid-January. Not your traditional holiday lights show!
Tickets required. ($20.75/adult and $12.75/child. Ages 4 and under are free.) A walk-through experience with a million lights, sElfie plaza, ice palace, bike-powered tree, food court, sky glider rides and more.
Tickets required. ($35-$45 per vehicle) A drive through experience with a million lights synched to music. Tip: check Groupon for discounted tickets!
Tickets required. ($35-$50 per vehicle) A drive through experience with 2.5 million lights synched to music, festive food and drink vendors and visits from Santa, fire dancers and a joke juggler on select dates.
Free. Open December 4-5 and 11-12, 2021. Not a light display, but several buildings are decorated and lit up for Christmas. Write a letter to St. Nick and mail it at the post box outside the Post Office – include a self addressed, stamped envelope so St. Nick can send a reply! (Drive through and see the lights all December long.)
Free admission, no tickets required. Twenty-minute shows featuring 250,000 LED lights designed by science and engineering students on 12/9-12/11 at 5:30pm, 6pm and 6:30pm
Open 12/15-12/19. Free outdoor religious Christmas light show. Tickets required for the 15-minute, indoor “Starry Night” 360-degree light and sound experience. ($15/person) Holiday market.
Tickets required ($10/person, 4 and under free). Sovereign Estate has 20 acres with lights, a candy cane lane, a life size nativity, photo ops on Santa’s sleigh, inflatable snowman social, children’s ice maze, winter llamas and Nana’s Gingerbread House. Holly Trolley rides, hot treats, mulled wine, boozy hot cocoa, wine and local brews available for purchase. Food available for purchase at the bistro.
Greater Minnesota Holiday Light Shows
Free. Open November 20-December 27, this is a walking experience with more than 5 million lights located on Lake Superior. Dress warm!
Open November 26-December 31
Free admission, donations accepted. 1.8 million lights, skating rink and warming house, horse-drawn wagon rides, Santa Claus, reindeer, ice sculpting and more.
Tickets required. ($15/adult, $10/ages 3-10, 2 and under Free. Parking is $10.) 8 million lights. Drive through experience on Monday and Tuesday nights. Walking experience on Wednesday through Sunday nights. S’mores cabins, Christmas market, bar and grill, reindeer, Santa visits
Free admission but donations accepted. 3.5 million lights, open from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. Santa is in the park every night, as well as a few of Santa’s reindeer! Ice rink and skate rental (free), weather permitting. Free s’mores.
Best South Metro Neighborhood Light Displays
Load up the kids, bring along some hot chocolate and candy canes and visit some of these neighborhoods for holiday light fun! Here we go, alphabetized by city:
Porter’s Holiday Lights Show, 13596 Hollins Ct, Apple Valley
Synched at 87.9 FM
Lights on Gardenview, 927 Garden View Dr, Apple Valley
Synched at 91.9 FM
2300 block of River Hills Drive, Burnsville – this house is decked out with lights choreographed to music at 87.9 FM
15000 Block of Stevens Avenue, Burnsville
Burdick’s House, 3863 Mersey Way, Eagan
Strandlof’s Christmas Lights, 7050 Blaine Ave, Inver Grove Heights
Tune in to 87.9 FM.
Lights on Forest Edge Dr, 816 Forest Edge Dr, Jordan
Lights at the Cove, 3490 Cove Point Cir NW, Prior Lake
Miller’s Circle, 5913 Millers Circle SE, Prior Lake
Shakopee Winter Wonderland, 921 Shakopee Ave E, Shakopee
Visit Santa and walk a path of Christmas lights. Crafts, cookies, hot cocoa and coffee!
Best North Metro Neighborhood Light Displays
Cairl Family Christmas Lights, 2342 145th Ave NW, Andover
50,000+ lights, synched to music at 99.1 FM
Andover Christmas Lights, 2347 141st Ln NW, Andover
Durrant Family Lights, 1750 130th Ave NE, Blaine
Synched on 87.9 FM
Good Neighbor Light Show, 110th Avenue NE, Blaine
Barno Family Lights, 4102 88th Ln NE, Circle Pines
Synched on 106.7 FM
Hanson Family Lights, 555 120th St NW, Coon Rapids
Hope Lights, 12401 Partridge St NW, Coon Rapids
150,00 lights synched at 91.7 FM
Koran Family Christmas, 35855 Lincoln Road, North Branch
35,000 lights synched at 91.9 FM
Langness Lights, 9610 223rd Street North, Forest Lake
Synched on 93.1 FM
Glowing in the Grove, 9673 Rosewood Ln N, Maple Grove
Synched to 91.7 FM
Morin’s Family Holiday Lights, 310 217th Ave NW, Cedar
Synched on 89.1 FM
Plymouth Lights, 16700 33rd Ave N, Plymouth
40,000+ lights synched at 103.3 FM
PD Shimmers, Ithaca Ln, Plymouth
8 homes, 60,000 lights to raise awareness of Parkinson’s.
Joy of the Season, 4810 Orchid Lane N, Plymouth
15-20 minute show.
Loss Family Light Show, 5635 156th Ln NW, Ramsey
Synched at 95.1 FM
Palmer’s Christmas Lights, 49307 Clover Trail, Rush City
Homemade Christmas lights, walk through and drive through.
Candy Cane Lane, 1994 Herschel St, Roseville
20,000 lights and a path you can walk through.
Holiday Lights on 20th St, 11594 20th St NE, St. Michael
Synched at 99.3 FM
Best East Metro Neighborhood Light Displays
Valley Lights, 5825 Kelvin Ave N, Lake Elmo
100,000+ lights at Rockpoint Church, synched to music at 97.9 FM. Wagon rides on select nights.
Holiday Lights of Woodbury, 8846 Glacier Rd, Woodbury
Best West Metro Neighborhood Light Displays
Snook Family Lights, 1188 Wildwood Way, Chaska
50,000+ lights, synched at 91.9 FM
Christmas on Savanna, 4441 Savanna Trail, Chaska
Synched at 91.9 FM
Christmas Lights at Sunrise, 15482 W Sunrise Cir, Eden Prairie
Tune in to 87.9 FM.
Trista Lights, 4386 Trista Bend, Minnetrista
Select nights you can see a 15 minute show while tuning in to 97.5 FM. 17,00 computerized lights.
Best Minneapolis/St. Paul Neighborhood Light Displays
Hayden’s Holiday Lights, 5205 Washburn Ave S, Minneapolis
Opens Thanksgiving and runs 4:30pm-10pm Monday-Saturday
Tune in to 104.9 for music synced with lights!
House on Howard, 2418 Howard St NE, Minneapolis
10,000 LED Christmas lights
Armatage Neighborhood, Minneapolis
Holiday Lights on York, 1526 York Ave, St. Paul
Runs daily from 5pm to 10pm. 11 homes decorated with about 90,000 lights, choreographed to music on 91.5 FM
