Missouri Makes the Holiday Season Merry and Bright

Once upon a time, it was a favorite holiday activity to load the family into the car and scour the local neighborhoods in search of the biggest and brightest light displays. Today – the search is a lot easier, because Missouri tourism attractions have done all the prep work for you.

For example, Warm Springs Ranch in Boonville hosts an annual Holiday Lights event Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 29-Dec. 29, 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Admission is $10 per person (aged 2 and older) and reservations are required. Combine your love of bright colored lights with a chance to visit with the world famous Budweiser Clydesdales. Guests aged 21 and older will receive two complimentary Budweisers and other beverages and light snacks are available for purchase.

Staying with the Anheuser Busch theme, the brewery in St. Louis offers their fun-for-the-family Brewery Lights Tour Friday through Sunday, Nov. 22- Dec. 30. In addition to enjoying more than a million twinkling lights, ride the Brewery Express train (perfect for kids of all ages), go ice skating and explore the Kids Zone. The event is free, but several special packages, a la carte options and food tokens are available. If you're only interested in the light show, drive-through tours are available Monday through Wednesday evenings until midnight.

You may think this is really not the season for gardens – but you couldn't be further from the truth when you experience Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and the Festival of Lights at Powell Gardens near Kansas City. Celebrate the season with more than a million dazzling lights, s'mores and a train show at the Missouri Botanical Garden, daily Nov. 23-Jan. 4. Tickets are $3-$20, with bargain and family nights and member pricing offered. Powell Gardens "Luminosity" event offers a dazzling wonderland of color installed in special moments along a mile-long accessible walk. It's open Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 29-Jan. 5. Tickets are $5-$12, with several packages available.

Make your holiday celebration a little bit wilder this year, with a visit to Wild Lights at the St. Louis Zoo. Whimsical animal-themed displays grace the zoo grounds, along with fire pits where you can warm your paws and toast a s'more. Admission is $8-9 Monday through Thursday and $10-$11 Friday-Sunday and includes admission to the 4D Theater showing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and the Conservation Carousel. The festival will run select nights Nov. 29-Dec. 30.

The big three theme parks are all getting into the holiday spirit, too.

• Holiday in the Park at Six Flags in Eureka offers new features for 2019, including Kitty's Christmas show, a Gingerbread Village filled with lights candy elements and fun photo opportunities and "A Christmas Scarol" one-man puppet show. Plus, you'll find your old favorites from rides to food to holiday lights, select dates Nov. 23-Jan. 1.
• An Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City in Branson started early, running select dates Nov. 2-Dec. 30, Wed.-Sun. One of the nation's top five Christmas festivals, An Old Time Christmas features 6.5 million lights! If that's not dazzling enough, try interactive experiences, rides and attractions, and Rudolph's Holly Jolly Christmas Light Parade featuring 45 costumed characters.
• Holiday cheer rings out at Winterfest at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, select dates Nov. 23-Dec. 31. Thousands of sparkling lights transform the park in a way that will lift any spirit. Explore live shows, meet iconic characters, go ice skating, enjoy fantastic seasonal foods and up to 30 rides, and make lasting memories.

And finally, there's the Granddaddy of them all: the Kansas City Plaza Lights at Country Club Plaza ... a local tradition for 90 years. The 15-block holiday spectacle is lit up every day, 5 p.m.-3 a.m.

So now you know – it's entirely possible to get your holiday lights fix all in one place with lots of extra entertainment and activities thrown in for good measure. It's all designed to put you in the Christmas spirit! Enjoy the holidays!

Here's a list of Missouri light displays to help make your holidays bright: