The Most Dazzling Light Displays in Chicago This Holiday Season

The Windy City is currently a Winter Wonderland.

The holiday season in Chicago is that extra , funny metre of yr when cold weather is something that ’s warmly embraced — and pair with a mug of steaming Glühwein fromChristkindlmarket . It ’s that magic season when Chicagoans begin generate weirdly territorial about parking spaces , when locals join holidaymaker on the downtown ice skating rink , and when the CTA gets a genuine glow up via holiday decor and music . But you need n’t go out of your way to partake in in the merriment , as holiday light source display can be found all over Chicagoland , loaning luster to a season of color and joy .

One of the best and brightest metropolis to experience the holidays , light displays retch a jolly gleaming on parks , neighborhoods , base , and business organisation all over townsfolk . And while sure lady of the house might bring their A - biz with intimidatingly complex light displays , they ca n’t hold a standard candle to the especially prodigal clarification find at the urban center ’s museums , botanical garden , and menagerie . merry playfulness for the whole household , from a head trip on a Santa - raiment CTA gearing to a nighttime walk through a luminous zoological garden , here ’s where to see some of the good and brightest vacation lightness in Chicago this class .

Holiday Magic

3 - 9 pm on Holiday Magic datesBrookfield Zoo , $ 29.95 for non - member adult , $ 20.95 for kids 3 - 11 , $ 24.95 for seniors over 65The longest - run holiday light fete in all of Chicagoland has been in the game for more than 40 years — and like a fine wine , it ’s only start out better with age . Now , more than 40 years in , the Brookfield Zoo ’s Holiday Magic has more than 2 million sparkling lights strewn throughout its total grounds , along with a aglow 300 - foot tunnel , holiday music aplenty , LED - lit animate being sculptures , and all manner of collation and sips . There ’s also a 16 - foot - marvelous gingerbread house and a 41 - foot Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , while entertainment let in varsity letter - composition to Santa , hoodwink elves , a roundabout , and shabu - carving at the Nature Center . Holiday Magic runs on weekend in December , as well as the relaxation of the week after Christmas .

Lightscape

Open after darkness , until 11 pm each nightChicago Botanic Garden , $ 34 for grownup ( $ 30 for member ) , $ 19 for children , free for kids under twoLess like a typical vacation light show and more like an extravagant , immersive prowess experience , Lightscape is a show - contain experience at the Chicago Botanic Garden that ’s sure to provide hatful of oohs and ahhs . Back in activeness for the 2023 holiday season and running through January 7 , 2024 , the labyrinthine outdoor presentation features cast footpath illuminated by glowing mavin , shimmering trees , and a Winter Cathedral , along with whimsical features like super - sized flower carving , atomic number 10 - light arm , and flickering torches , all of which provide a certainAlice in Wonderland - style vim .

ZooLights

4:30 to 9:30 phase modulation Sunday - Thursday , 4:30 - 10 pm Friday - Saturday , 4:30 - 10 post-mortem December 31 , 4:30 - 9 pm January 1 - 7Lincoln Park Zoo,$7 on weeknight , and $ 10 on weekends ( free on Mondays)The Lincoln Park Zoo is a fun — and free!—go - to year turn for all kinds of wild , family - friendly fun , but there ’s just something extra limited about seeing it fall up with ten of one thousand of Christmas light this time of year . The yearly ZooLights race through January 4 , 2024 , metamorphose the Mungo Park into a unquestionable North Pole with a light maze , a Candyland - theme light show , caroler , ice carving , visit with Santa , cookie adorn with Mrs. Claus , a vacation pop - up bar with s’mores , warm drinks , and a 65 - pes Ferris steering wheel that provides panoramic eyeshot of all the trick . This being a menagerie , there ’s vehemence on sustainability and preservation , with 100 % of the lighter being energy - save , air current - powered LEDS . While the zoo is normally free , ticket to ZooLights back the establishment ’s fauna charge and conservation endeavour .

CTA Holiday Train

school through December 20 , heap routes through December 23 ( checkherefor the full schedule)Regular transportation are $ 2.50 for the L train and $ 2.25 for busesAnyone who apply public transit in Chicago will differentiate you that the city ’s train and jitney are no sleigh ride , but for a brief , beautiful second in clip each year , you may bury about strangers fall asleep on you and instead just revel in the legerdemain of the season — as long as you ’re onthe CTA Holiday Trainand not , say , a regular route , in which case alien will surely continue to use your shoulder as a pillow . Each year , blue-ribbon CTA string and bus route take twist as a improvised Polar Express , temporarily transforming received vehicles into full - botch up Santa regalia . Per the CTA schedule , train car and buses are sporadically bedight in twinkling lights and holiday music through December 23 , complete with Greenland caribou and Santa waving at passersby . And for the first meter since 2019 , rider will be able to get photos with Santa as well .

Illumination: Tree Lights at The Morton Arboretum

every night , 4:30 - 8:30 pmThe Morton Arboretum,$13.40-$35.20 for member and $ 16.75-$44 for guestsFor Christmas lights with a number of pomp and circumstance , it makes good sense to jaw the Lollapalooza of trees in Chicago : The Morton Arboretum . Each year , the straggle botanical wonderland puts on a arresting showcase of synergistic vacation Christ Within displays coif to strait and music . This yr ’s Illumination , campaign until January 6 , 2024 , visualize 50 acres of trees and nerve pathway bedazzled with all fashion of lights , glow gardens , and laser show . The crux of the spectacle is a one - stat mi paved walk trail that traipses through luminous tunnel and under trees that glow when you hug them , interspersed with concession tent and fire pits for marshmallow roasting . Back for a 2d year is a belated - night , grownup - only series called Electric Illumination , held December 15 , 22 , and 29 from 9:30 - 11 postmortem , that features clubby euphony set to light show .

City of Chicago Christmas Tree

All vacation seasonMillennium Park , FreeAs the most popular tourer attractive feature in the intact Midwest , Millennium Park is an apt locale for the City of Chicago ’s official Christmas tree diagram . This class ’s monster is a 45 - foot Colorado Blue Spruce that stigmatize the city ’s 110th Christmas tree , holding down the fort near the carrefour of Michigan Avenue and Washington Street in the nerve of the park . Until January 7 , 2024 , the tree diagram casts a gorgeous radiance over one of Chicago ’s busiest thoroughfare , and leave a picture - perfect background for family ice rink skating on the McCormick Tribune Skating Rink .

Light Up The Lake

Through December 20 , hours are Monday - Thursday 3 - 9 postmortem , Friday - Saturday 11 am-10 premier , and Sunday 11 am-7 postmortem ; December 21 - January 7 , hours are 11 am-7 postmortem ( seeholiday hours)Navy Pier , $ 27 for adults , $ 17 for kids years 3 - 12 , detached for kids under 3In casing you ’d like to get vacation lights without expose your pelt to frostbite , Navy Pier has the win - winnings solution with the return of its annual twinkle Up The Lake . Held through December 31 , 2023 , the lavish indoor / outdoor showcase — held in and around the Festival Hall — boast interactive luminosity display , an water ice skating rink , an artisan marketplace , blast pits with s’mores , hot medicine on weekend , Santa visits , and for those looking to relieve a little holiday stress , axe - throwing . wholly , there are more than 600,000 lights , plus go back pyrotechnic shows on Saturdays .

Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light

Daily , 9:30 am - 4 pmMuseum of Science and Industry,$25.95 for adults ( complimentary for members ) , $ 14.95 for kids ages 3 - 11 , free for Thomas Kyd under threeThere ’s a whole world of holiday lights to ogle at the Museum of Science and Industry , which has steady develop its annual “ Christmas Around the earth ” tradition to have a globe - trotting fling of special decor . Through January 7 , 2024 , the Hyde Park museum feature a fundamental four - story behemoth of a Christmas tree in the main rotunda , border by a serial of 50 + modest trees and lights inspired by cultural holiday traditions around the world , from Korea and Colombia to Latvia and Egypt . to boot , Santa is on - hand to stick with Kyd in his photo studio , and be certain to check out the Science of Snow exhibit , sport highly detailed photography of real snowflake captured by physics professor Ken Libbrecht .