Holiday Light Displays in Hampton Roads

Published November 27, 2019

BayPort Credit Union Holiday Lights Merry Mile

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, which means the holiday season is in full swing. Easily get in the holiday spirit by enjoying these eight stunning light displays throughout Hampton Roads.

Port Warwick Holiday Tree Lighting

Styron Square at Port Warwick

3100 Styron Square

Newport News, VA

November 30, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Enjoy this Old-Fashioned Festive Family Event featuring a Santa Parade and the lighting of the majestic Tree! Entertainment throughout the evening by Santa Brass, Commodore Chorus, Doorway Singers, "The Night Before Christmas" Puppet Show, Face Painting and Balloon Twisting, dance presentation by Dance Works. Visit and take pictures with Santa, games and prizes, free carriage rides and free cider, hot chocolate and cookies. Something for everyone and will surely put you in the Holiday Spirit!

Admission: Free

For more information, please visit: https://portwarwickevents.com/holiday-tree-lighting/

Million Bulb Walk 2019

Norfolk Botanical Garden

6700 Azalea Garden Road

Norfolk, VA

November 26 - December 14, 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Walk through more than a million holiday lights with family and friends. The event route is approximately a mile long and is accessible for strollers, wheelchairs and mobility assistance devices. At the end of the route, there is a tram that will take guests back to the parking lot. Tickets are nonrefundable.

Admission: Not-yet-members $18, Military $16, Members $16, Children $10

For more information, please visit: https://norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/mbw/

Newport News Celebration In Lights

Newport News Park

Ft. Eustis Blvd and Jefferson Avenue

Newport News, VA

November 28 - January 1, 5:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Celebration in Lights, Virginia’s first drive-through holiday light event, opens for its 27th season on Thanksgiving night (November 28, 2019). This year, the event will be a part of the new, citywide BayPort NlightN Holiday Event Series. Newport News Park will be transformed by over a million individual lights, creating animated holiday and fanciful scenes. For its 27th year, the event will add new lighting effects in the Newport News Golf Course at Deer Run area and enhancements to the Newport News arch. The event will be open each evening, 5:30 - 10:00 p.m., through January 1, 2020.

Over 350 individual display pieces, 50+ arches, and over three miles of rope lighting enhance the natural beauty of the two-mile drive along Newport News Park’s main road. All new display pieces added since 2007 use LED lights which result in a savings of approximately 30% on electrical cost compared to incandescent bulbs and last 100,000 hours verses 3,000 hours for incandescent. Older (pre 2007) display pieces are being refitted with LED lights.

Hours and admission are: open nightly 5:30 - 10:00 p.m., $15.00 per car and $75.00 per bus; cash, credit cards Visa/MC, and checks made payable to the City of Newport News are accepted; advance/gift tickets may be purchased at the Newport News Visitor Center. Newport News Park is located at the intersection of Ft. Eustis Blvd. and Jefferson Ave. in Newport News, VA. Directions: Eastbound I-64 use Exit 247 (Lee Hall), Westbound I-64 use Exit 250 B (Ft. Eustis). For more information, call 757-926-1400

Admission: $15.00 to $75.00 —$15.00 per car and $75.00 per bus

For more information, please visit: https://www.nnva.gov/2414/Celebration-in-Lights

Yorktown Christmas Tree Lighting

Riverwalk Landing

331 Water Street

Yorktown, VA

December 6, 6:30 PM

The holiday fun kicks off with Yorktown's annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. This community tradition goes all the way back to 1945. That's the year that Reverend Claud G. Barkley, Pastor of Yorktown Baptist Church, and staff from the County Clerk's office, decorated a cedar tree that stood at the corner of Main and Ballard Streets. The York County Historical Committee works hard to keep this ritual going! The tree that is used today is a 20-foot artificial commercial "Giant Everest Fir" tree placed down in Riverwalk Landing. Everyone is invited to gather at the Yorktown Victory Monument by 6:30 p.m. for live music including a performance by the Fifes and Drums of Yorktown. From there, the procession will make its way from the Victory Monument to Riverwalk Landing, where the tree lighting ceremony will begin. Make sure you stay for a visit from Santa, eager to hear all those wish lists!

Admission: Free

For more information, please visit: https://www.visityorktown.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=1491&month=12&year=2019&day=6&calType=0

Annual Lighted Boat Parade

Downtown Hampton

756 Settlers Landing Road

Hampton, VA 23669

December 13, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Cruise into the spirit of the holiday season at the Annual Downtown Hampton Lighted Boat Parade. This highly anticipated parade of illuminated power and sail boats will be visible from most locations along the Hampton River, however spectators wanting to hear the narration will want to find a spot near the Hampton Maritime Center.

For more information, visit: https://www.downtownhampton.com/do/lighted-boat-parade-1

Light Up Main and Christmas Tree Lighting

Downtown Smithfield

Main and Grace Streets

Smithfield, VA 23430

December 6, 5:30 PM

This magical holiday evening begins with the Woman's Club of Smithfield’s Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Smithfield Times Gazebo featuring music by local children’s choruses and the official tree lighting followed by light refreshments of cookies and hot chocolate. Immediately afterwards downtown merchants will illuminate their shops as a drum corps marches by. The shops will stay open until 8:00 p.m. so visitors can vote for their favorite light display and be sure to stop by the Isle of Wight Museum to meet Old St. Nick himself between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.

For more information, please visit: https://www.genuinesmithfieldva.com/feature-stories/detail/27/light-up-main-and-christmas-tree-lighting

BayPort Credit Union Holiday Lights Merry Mile

101 2nd Street

Virginia Beach, VA 23451

November 22 - December 31, 5:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Take a magical journey on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk at BayPort Credit Union Holiday Lights Merry Mile! This Hampton Roads tradition begins Friday November 22 and continues nightly through New Year’s Eve, December 31st .

Drive your vehicle ON THE BOARDWALK through Nautical, Holiday, and Adventure Lands with a soundtrack signal playing traditional Holiday music on your vehicle’s radio. Festive fish, musical crabs, and hard-working elves – all in brightly colored lights against the moonlit Atlantic Ocean - are the stars of BayPort Credit Union Holiday Lights Merry Mile. They are joined by light up Santa and a 40-foot tall Christmas tree erected on the Beach and in the beautiful Parks along the Virginia Beach Boardwalk. The light display includes archways along the entire length of the spectacular light display with fish swimming overhead and spectacular light tunnels to drive through. Military tributes to the region’s strong Armed Forces community are featured prominently throughout the display.

Families are encouraged to enjoy everything the Virginia Beach Resort features by Holiday-bundling BayPort Credit Union Holiday Lights Merry Mile with dinner at one of the many fine restaurants or a visit to one of the exciting attractions at the Oceanfront.

Admission: Passenger Vehicles - $10 Limousines - $25 Mini buses - $25 Motorcoaches - $45 Entrance fee is Cash Only at the gate.

For more information, please visit: https://liveonatlantic.com/festivals/bayport-credit-union-holiday-lights-merry-mile

Lighted Boat Parade

Riverwalk Landing

331 Water Street

Yorktown, VA 23690

December 7, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

If you’re ready to get into the holiday spirit, you’ll want to put this one on your calendar! Join us at the Yorktown Waterfront from 6-8 p.m. Pre-parade festivities start at 6 and include caroling around a beach bonfire, a musical performance by the Fifes & Drums of Yorktown, and complimentary hot cider. The boats will finish out the evening, as they make their way down the river in a dazzling show of lights that starts at 7 p.m. This annual event has been a community tradition for more than two decades, and brings neighbors together to celebrate the season. Some of the boats take almost 20 hours to decorate!

As an added safety precaution, families are encouraged to bring flashlights to assist in navigation around town at night. No rain dates are scheduled for the holiday weekend events. In the event weather conditions pose a threat, please call the York County event weather hotline for the most current information at 757.890.3520. This event is sponsored by the Yorktown Lighted Boat Parade Committee.

For more information, please visit: https://www.visityorktown.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=1493&month=12&year=2019&day=7&calType=0