With Christmas right around the corner, everyone is getting into the holiday festivities with decorations and gift buying, but another fun way to celebrate the holidays is by visiting light shows or light-up nights.
Westmoreland County and the surrounding area have quite a few of these holiday lights available to visit. Here is a compiled list of some of the lights around – some you may have heard of, and some of them might be unfamiliar to you.
A very popular light walk is Overly’s Country Christmas in Greensburg. It’s more than just a walk with lights; there are gingerbread houses, train rides, gift shops, stores, and food. The cost to see all the lights and walk around is $25 (cash only) with items and food available with additional purchase. It is open on select Thursdays and Sundays from 5:30 to 9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 to 10 p.m. It opened Nov. 16 and it stays open until Dec 30.
Another very popular destination is Oglebay in West Virginia. It is a drive-through display called “Festival of Light.” Besides the drive-through experience, which is open nightly from dusk until midnight through Jan. 7, there is also a winter carnival that operates from 2 to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday through Sunday. The cost is just under $25 per person, which includes access to the ice rink, a kid’s train and wagon ride, a climbing wall, and a decorated tree trail. Oglebay also offers shopping, a zoo, food, entertainment and hotel rooms to book for nights.
A more popular and familiar destination on this list is Kennywood. While most may only think of it as an amusement park, it also offers holiday lights and much more through Jan. 1. The ticket costs $34.99 and that includes entry to the park along with seeing over two million lights, nightly tree lighting, festive food, a chance for kids to meet Santa and a kids’ scavenger hunt.
A light show that might not be as well-known is North Park’s Holiday Laser Show by the North Park Pool. The show runs from Dec. 8-23 and costs $30 per car. The show starts around 6:30 p.m. and runs for about 40 minutes. There is no food available for purchase, but viewers are encouraged to bring their own refreshments.
The last place that you might want to check out is Philips’s Winter Flower and Light Show located at Philips Garden in Oakland. The show runs from now till Jan. 7. It opens nightly at 5 p.m. and stays open until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. depending on the night. The cost to see the show is $24.95 for adults and $14.95 for kids.
Mia Williams, Business Manager