Del Mar Holiday of Lights Drive
Through Light Display
at San Diego County Fairgrounds Through Jan. 3, 2010
Holiday of Lights at Del Mar Fairgrounds, Del Mar, CA.
Cost: $14/car sdfair.com
Del
Mar, California -- Families
and friends can fill up their cars for a pleasure ride through a
wonderland of colorful light displays that create fantasy scenes during
the holiday season. Santa rides on a sleigh through the sky as a
dinosaur munches on grass next to a palm tree decked with decorative
lights. This is just a sampling of the themes on display this holiday in
Del Mar's Holiday of Lights.
The Del Mar Fairgrounds
Interstate 5 at Via de la Valle
Enter the Fairgrounds at the Main Lot on Jimmy Durante
Boulevard
2009 Prices:
$14 per car, up to 5 people
(Buy discount tickets for $12.00 at San Diego County
Albertsons|Sav-on stores)
$19 per vehicle, 6 or more people
$49 per bus
$10 per person for the Holiday Hayride (Ages 3 and younger
ride free; hayride includes the Holiday of Lights tour, hot
chocolate or cider and a holiday cookie.)
Operation of Holiday of Lights during inclement weather:
858-793-5555.
Because of safety concerns, motorcycles and other
two-wheeled vehicles are not permitted to tour Holiday of
Lights. If you want to ride a two-wheel vehicle such as a
bicycle, visit Los Angeles Department of
Water and Power Griffith Park Light Festival
in Griffith Park.
One of
the nation's largest drive-through light displays attracts cars and
people in the hundreds of thousands. Even after Christmas has ended, you
can still get in your car and see the display through the new year.
Themed areas of the drive-through event include places such as Candy
Cane Lane, the Twelve Days of Christmas, Elves at Play, Toyland, San
Diego County Fair, Treasures by the Lake, and Del Mar Racetrack. In fact
the event is located at the Del Mar Fairgrounds where the racetrack
hosts numerous horse races each season.
But on
the special night you enter into your fantasy flight, from the comfort
of a car you'll see twinkling displays accompanied to themed music. Of
course you have to roll down your window as you drive along the 1.5 mile
route to listed to the sounds of Christmas. Since the weather is
generally mild and seldom drops below the 50s to 60s at night, you'll be
just fine with a coat on as you cruise through the San Diego County
wonderland.
Transformed from its regular venue as one of the busiest and
best-attended county fairs in the nation, Del Mar is the home of the San
Diego Fair held annually in June / July. The fairground sits just across
from a beach and the Pacific Ocean, making it one of the finest fairs
and events to attend, thanks to those cool ocean breezes and fantastic
weather San Diego is recognized as having.
NEW for 2009: Holiday
Hayride tour of the Holiday of Lights the old-fashioned way!
When: Fridays: Nov. 27 and Dec. 4, 11 and 18, every half
hour, 5:30 to 8:30PM.
Where: Wagons depart from the Paddock, where carolers and
fire pits for roasting marshmallows will entertain you
before you board the ride and after you return.
Santa's Pub and Piano Bar, also at the Paddock during
Holiday Hayride hours, is a great place for a company or
group happy hour.
Seating on the Holiday Hayride is limited, so it is
important to buy your ticket in advance. Tickets are now on
sale through Ticketmaster and the Fairgrounds Box Office,
858-792-4252. Note: if you order through Ticketmaster,
please use the drop-down menu under "Section" to choose your
boarding time.
Drive
through light displays in California require much orchestration in terms
of traffic. Other drive through areas you may want to check out include
the Holiday Lights display in Los Angeles - Griffith Park,
Altadena Christmas Tree Lane, and
Oxnard's Historic Homes District Christmas Tree Lane.
DEL MAR - Holiday of
Lights. Largest animated drive-through light show on the west coast
features more than 400 twinkling displays at Del Mar Fairgrounds. Event
runs nightly through Jan. 4, 2009. Time: Sundays-Thursdays,
5:30 to 10 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 5:30 to 11 p.m. Cost: $14/ car
up to 5 people; $19/ vehicle of 6 or more people; $49/ bus. Location:
The Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar, CA. Call:
(858) 755-1161. sdfair.com
Also
be sure to visit one of the finest fairs in the United
States, the San
Diego County Fair in Del Mar
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