Event · Community
Winter Lights Festival 2026 — Seneca Creek State Park
- When
- Through Dec 31Nightly November 27 – December 31, 2026; closed December 25. Advance tickets went on sale October 15, 2026 at 10 a.m.
- Where
- Seneca Creek State Park11950 Clopper Road, Gaithersburg, MDOpen in Google Maps ↗
- Ages
- All ages
- Cost
- One ticket per vehicle: Monday–Thursday $15, Friday–Sunday $25, 15+ passenger vehicles $35; advance purchase requiredDrive-through; stay in your vehicle.
- Organizer
- City of Gaithersburg
The City of Gaithersburg's Winter Lights Festival returns for its 31st season as a 3.5-mile drive through Seneca Creek State Park with more than 450 illuminated displays and lit trees. Families stay in the car the whole way, which makes it easy with babies and toddlers; the city suggests tuning to 97.1 WASH FM for holiday music, packing snacks, using the restroom before the route and arriving close to 5:30 p.m. to beat the lines. Tickets are sold per vehicle, must be bought online in advance and are valid only for the chosen date; there are no onsite sales for the special Enchanted Evenings held before the route opens to cars. Weekday tickets are cheaper than weekend ones, and exchanges are allowed in advance subject to availability. Do not stop or leave your vehicle along the route.
Visit the official site ↗Published details checked online. Contact responsiveness and live booking availability have not been confirmed.
What was checked & what still needs confirmation
Read in a browser (curl/WebFetch blocked or JS-only). Nightly opening hours are not printed on the page (it only advises arriving close to 5:30 p.m.), so time is null. ZIP not printed. Enchanted Evening detail pages were blocked by a bot check.
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