The holiday season is upon us and there is plenty to do with family or friends to celebrate this time of year. Holiday light shows are a favorite on the list. The accessibility to the shows allows you to make memories with all of your loved ones included. The colorful lights, holiday music and smiling faces are sure to put you in a festive mood during the most wonderful time of the year.

Surrounded by millions of twinkling lights in the forms of insects, animals, snow characters and flowers, Brookside Gardens hosts a must-see light show during the holiday season. As you enter the gardens, there is a half-mile-lit pathway to stroll down and view the colorful displays. Inside the main building, another favorite attraction is the Garden Railway, which has a live train exhibit with a scavenger hunt. Located in Wheaton, Brookside Gardens is an easy nearby show and an enchanting experience for all who attend.

Although located further away in Virginia, the Bull Run Festival of Lights is a drive-through light show with 2.5 miles of illuminated displays that should definitely be on your must-see list this holiday season. As you drive through the park, you can observe live light displays and even drive under illuminated archways. The creativity of the light displays ranges from your typical Santa in a sleigh to fairytale vignettes that wow viewers. After driving through the park, the Holiday Village offers toasty bonfires to make s’mores at and even carnival rides including a Ferris wheel. The Bull Run Festival of Lights makes for a magical night filled with holiday joy.

Celebrating the 101st anniversary of President Calvin Coolidge’s tradition, a 40-foot tall Norway Spruce is lit up with 2.5 miles of lights with over 400 ornaments. Selected students from each state decorate ornaments with their state as inspiration to decorate the 58 trees surrounding the national tree. When visiting, you can walk around the pathway viewing each of the 58 trees to take in the artwork of students representing their state while looking at the entirety of the national Christmas tree. After attending the lighting ceremony for the past three years, sophomore Ava Eisenman said, “It spreads the holiday magic.”

Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg offers another drive-through light display with 3.5 miles of lights. While driving through the park, the forests are illuminated by more than 450 displays that highlight popular holiday characters. With LED ice skaters, castles, igloos, forests of Christmas trees, human size candy canes and even a tunnel made up of light strands, “It was cool to see the flashing lights and how creative the designs were,” junior Maddy Mathews said.

With all these options it may be hard to choose between the holiday light shows available. Each presents its own unique features that are the beginnings of new memories with your loved ones. These light shows are important traditions as they are “something to look forward to and a fun activity to do during the holiday season,” sophomore Megan Lomotan said.