UPDATE DEC. 21, 2016: Win a car pass to this amazing display! See details below!
By Patricia Hall, FairfaxFamilyFun.com
You can’t miss the lights while driving on I-66 (especially traveling east from Manassas): the Bull Run Festival of Lights is back! Visiting this annual holiday lights display at Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority’s Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville is a tradition for many local families. This year, the festival takes place November 23, 2016, through January 8, 2017.
The main attraction of the Festival of Lights is the drive-through light show, which features elaborate illuminated displays that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own car. As you drive along the 2.5-mile-long circular route, you will see scenes depicting Santa’s workshop, the Twelve Days of Christmas, and other holiday and winter scenes. You also will spot penguins, snowmen, candy canes, “flying” reindeer, and in one section even some very cool lights that resemble snow falling overhead. Since this is a drive-through attraction, it’s an event you can enjoy no matter what the weather is like from the comfort of your car.
If the winter weather is nice or you’re bundled up and ready to brave the cold, also make time to visit the carnival at the end of your ride. The carnival is open on select dates and features traditional midway rides and games (ride tickets are not included with the basic festival admission). Also visit the Holiday Village to enjoy bonfires, s’mores, hot cocoa, holiday merchandise, photos with Santa, and Santa’s Enchanted Lights, 40,000 twinkling lights set to music. On select dates there are also free family activities including cookie decorating, bingo, crafts, and nature shows, and, for a small fee, even camel rides!
Admission prices are per carload. Mondays through Thursdays, the fee is $15 per car; on weekends and holidays, the fee is $20 per car, except all Saturday nights in December, when the fee is $25 per car. The times for the festival (and the carnival, on applicable dates) are 5:30-9:30 Mondays through Thursdays, and 5:30-10 pm Fridays-Sundays and holidays.
Some tips to enjoy the festival:
- Go on a weekday: you will save money and avoid the crowds (another plus: with fewer cars, you usually can go a bit slower to enjoy the drive more)
- Download the coupon: save $3 per weekday admission (for a $12 entry Mondays through Thursday) with this coupon from the festival website
- Gather friends: as long as you’re paying by the carload, take along some friends for extra fun!
- Set the mood: make some hot cocoa before you go and put it in travel mugs to enjoy during your drive, set the radio to a station playing holiday music, and bring blankets and the kids’ favorite stuffed animals
Win a car pass to the Bull Run Festival of Lights
One winner will one free car pass to the Bull Run Festival of Lights, good for any day during the 2016-2017 operating season. The winner will receive a free entry pass for one vehicle that can be used for any day and time (subject to availability). To enter this giveaway, sign up for our newsletter and leave a blog post comment below before 11 pm on Friday, Dec. 23, 2016. One winner will be randomly selected and notified immediately via email at the address the winner used when placing the comment; the winner will need to respond with 24 hours to the notification email or risk forfeiture. The ticket will be mailed to the recipient via regular U.S. Postal Service mail. This promotion is not affiliated with Facebook. Contestants agree to abide by our giveaway terms and conditions. This giveaway is open to persons ages 18 and up. Total prize value is up to $56.
All photos courtesy of Bull Run Festival of Lights
The website was temporarily down.
Don’t worry, you still have tie to enter now! 🙂
This would be a great gift for our holiday visitor, grandma!!!
Would love to take the family to this event!
This would be great!
We’d love to win this!!
Would love to take my mom and son. Hopefully I win and give them a nice present 🙂
Would love to go again!
One of my favorite winter bucket list items
Would love to win! ?
Another place we haven’t been to yet and would love to go!
My kids would love this!!
My family would love to go! ????
We hope to go after Christmas and going for free would be grand!
We have no plans for this holidays. This would a nice outing with kids. would love to win this for my kids 🙂
Never been to this. Would be a fun time!
My four year old would love this!
I would love to go! I love Christmas lights!
We would love to go!!
Now that my daughter LOVES & UNDERSTANDS the lights and decorations, she’ll absolutely be astonished by the lights!
I can’t wait to see her reaction!
Us!!! ?
Our family would enjoy this immensely!!
We would love to go to Bull Run!
So fun!
We would love to go!
We love visiting every year.
Would love to see the lights!
We’ve gone to bull run for the lights every year since moving to Virginia. It’s beautiful.
Never been and would love to go.
I would love to take my boys to see this!
Love this activity
This would be so fun for our family! Thanks!
Maybe we won’t have to see it only from the highway this year ?
Always so much fun!
My 4 year-old and 20 month-old boys would love this!
Have never done this. Looks beautiful!!!
My son told me he wanted to see these again this year, so it would be great to win!
We are new in the area this will be great idea on christmas eve!
Ohhhh. We havent been in many years due to budget. Would love to take the kids! Thanks.
Please pick my family!!
I’m already signed up. My family has yet to see these lights.
What a fun Christmas activity this would be for our family!
We went there this year but our young kids fell asleep throughout the ride! We would love to go there again, hopefully with awake kids at this time.
This would be fun for all!
I’d love to take my family to check it out!
We love this light show and would love to go this year!
Thanks for the chance to win! We loveyhe Festival of Lights!
We have never seen one. It would be first for me and my kids.
We tried to go last night and were not able to make it 🙁 Would love to be able to see all the lights!
Would love to win a pass. We have not taken the kids this year.