Where to see the most dazzling holiday lights in Ontario, from Kitchener to Niagara
Seasonal light displays add a warm glow to winter nights and spark magic that puts us in the holiday spirit. Whether you prefer to cruise through colourful light canopies in your car or wander around a glimmering city park with a cup of hot chocolate in hand, Ontario's delightful holiday light displays have got you covered.
Winter Festival of Lights, Niagara When: Until Feb. 20, 2023. Cost: Free
Dubbed the country's largest free outdoor light festival, Niagara's Winter Festival of Lights celebrates 40 years this season with new additions to its lineup, including 40 nights of both firework displays and of free family-friendly entertainment. The festival also debuts a new self-guided Hot Chocolate Trail with 17 stops at local restaurants and bakeries, where visitors can sample creative hot chocolate drinks. These new festivities join the dazzling light displays - more than 75 animated installations, projections and more - that the event is famous for.
Christmas Panorama, Simcoe When: Until Jan. 1, 2023. Cost: Free (donations accepted)
Simcoe's Christmas Panorama has lit up the city's downtown parks since 1958, making it one of the oldest light festivals in the region. In addition to more than 60 light displays featured in public parks and along the Lynn River, local residents are invited to participate by decorating their own homes and registering on the event's Light Up The County" map. The Christmas Panorama also includes a Christmas market, as well as vendors selling treats like hot chocolate and apple cider doughnuts for visitors to enjoy while walking around the displays.
Eclipse Walk with Light, Huntsville
When: Until March 18, 2023. Cost: $5; free for kids under 12
This next-level light display in Huntsville is an interactive experience, featuring music, spoken word poetry and light that responds to visitors' voices. A circular forested path at Muskoka Heritage Place leads visitors past soundscapes illuminated by more than 20,000 lights, which are themed around the cycles of the day and moon and seasons of the year. Visitors can warm up with fried chicken sandwiches and doughnuts from local food truck Fox in the Henhouse, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic bevvies from Canvas Brewing Co. Stop by on Fridays to catch live music or on Saturdays to see busker performances.
Gift of Lights, Kitchener
When: Until Dec. 31, 2022. Cost: Starting at $24.95
When the weather outside is frightful, the fire isn't the only delightful option: Load up your car with plenty of blankets and head to the Gift of Lights to admire enchanting drive-thru light displays without braving the cold. Touted as the largest drive-thru holiday light display in southwestern Ontario," Gift of Lights' animated and static light exhibits stretch for more than two kilometres. Visitors can tune in to Gift of Lights Radio at 103.3 FM and bop to holiday ditties while viewing 300 displays, including two 150-feet-long twinkling light tunnels.
Mississauga Illumi, Mississauga
When: Until Jan. 8, 2023. Cost: Starting at $19.95
With more than a dozen themed areas and a total of over 20 million lights, Mississauga Illumi is the self-described largest light, sound and multimedia show in the world." The exhibition site spans more than 600,000 square feet, with high-definition projections, animatronics, elaborate light structures and music that combine to create a truly immersive experience. The showpiece is the Tree of Lights, a 47-metre-high installation made of 44,000 light spheres, which sits surrounded by a multi-hued forest of other light trees." Other universes" in the display include a winter-inspired area called The Land of Frost," which features illuminated snowflakes and a 65-metre-long LED light tunnel.