Holiday Lights and Events Across U.S.

Communities across the Chicago area and nationwide are kicking off holiday light displays, markets and family events from early November into January. In the Chicago region, highlights include Moline’s free Lighting on the Commons on Nov. 22; Lincoln Park Zoo’s 30th‑anniversary ZooLights (Nov. 21–Jan. 4); Brookfield Zoo’s Holiday Magic (Nov. 21–23 and select weekends); the Morton Arboretum’s Illumination: Tree Lights (Nov. 15–Jan. 3) with a fully accessible one‑mile path and new Vivid Creatures sculptures; the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Lightscape (Nov. 14–Jan. 4); and Aurora’s debut Christkindlmarket (Nov. 21–Dec. 24). Elsewhere, downtown Pensacola’s First City Lights Festival will light over half a million lights on Nov. 5, San Diego Botanic Garden’s Lightscape opens Nov. 14, Naperville’s Holiday Parade of Lights is set for Nov. 28, and Philadelphia’s Wanamaker Light Show and Dickens Village return beginning Black Friday (Nov. 28). Cities and towns are pairing light shows with markets, Santa visits, concerts and family attractions; many events require advance tickets or timed entry while others remain free. Some communities are adding sustainability measures — Rapid City has collection bins for recycling nonworking lights through Jan. 31 — and local weather (e.g., a warm, sunny early-November in New Orleans and a potentially cooler, snowier pattern for Denver later in the month) could influence outdoor festivities.