The Nights of Lights is an amazing walk-through Christmas light display open now at Heritage Park in Simpsonville, SC. We spent a night there and have all the details on how you can enjoy it with your family!
Thank you to the Nights of Lights for providing media tickets for this review.
Nearly a quarter mile of thousands of lights are shining bright at Nights of Lights in the Upstate’s only walk-through holiday light display at Heritage Park in Simpsonville, SC. This is the event’s second year and features beautiful light tunnels, a massive igloo, a petting zoo, lots of fun photo ops, ice skating, food, and carnival rides. You can even ride a camel. Ride. A. Camel.
They also have several different discounts and are open nightly through January 3, 2025. Yes, even on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.
Read on for why you should put this event on your family’s list of to-do’s for the holiday season.
For more things to do over the holidays, see our giant list of 100+ Things to do Over the Christmas Holiday season.
The Nights of Lights: Heritage Park Christmas Lights
When you enter Heritage Park, keep driving all the way past the playground and train depot to the CCNB Amphitheater. There is free parking and that’s where you enter the display.
The path of lights is all paved and goes for nearly a quarter mile. The Heritage Park Christmas lights have over 200 LED light displays throughout the park. You’ll pass through archways of light where you will see Santa, snowmen, and all kinds of happy Christmas creatures decked out in lights.
There is a giant, life-size inflatable igloo, which is just really cute to walk through and that has lights that sparkle and sync to music. There are places that have lights where you and your kids can poke your heads inside and instantly become lighted holiday people. It’s a lot of fun and you can take as long as you want anywhere.
Ice (Roller) Skating
The Nights of Lights has a decent-sized skating rink for those of you who want to test your coordination and balance skills. The rink is not real ice but rather closely connected panels of synthetic material. As to how fast or slow you’ll go on skates, it will really depend upon your skates and ability to not fall!
This year they’ve added the option to have roller skates, which we highly recommend. My kids said the rink is really smooth and easy to skate on. I had to tear them away with promises of cute animals to pet to leave. It was that much fun. You are able to bring your own roller skates if you want.
Skating is $8/person and if you need a little extra assistance in terms of an ice walker, that is $5. The rink is close to the entrance so you can do that first or do it after you walk through the display.
The Petting Zoo at Nights of Lights
Once you walk through the display, you will come to the petting zoo. The petting zoo is run by Eudora Farms, a wildlife safari based in Salley, SC. Our readers may be familiar with them since we’ve written about this farm in the past.
The animals at the Nights of Lights are so cute. They have a big camel, fluffy sheep, goats, alpacas, a super fluffy baby Highlands Scottish Cow, wallabys, and a bull with massive horns. You can purchase feed cups. They looked very happy and well taken care of.
There is also a large enclosure where you can get inside and feed parakeets with a stick of bird seed. These parakeets are so funny. They will land on your arm, hand, shoulder, phone, you name it. My daughters and I loved interacting with the little birds.
Feeding cups range from $3-$6. Pony rides are $10.
Riding a Camel
New for 2024 is Clyde, a huge camel that gives rides. We just had to do this because where can you actually ride a camel in SC? It was my very first time riding a camel and pretty awesome. Clyde is a good camel and will do pretty much anything for treats.
You ride on one of his humps and go around the enclosure a couple of times. It is so neat and quite the unique experience. Definitely a 10/10 first time camel ride!
Camel rides are $10/person and located next to the petting zoo.
The Rides, Bounce Houses, and Santa
Nights of Lights also has several rides you can enjoy during your time there. A Ferris Wheel, carousel, and green dragon spinning thing are located in front of the stage, where the 65-foot tall Christmas tree stands, and next to the petting zoo.
There are also two big bounce houses, including a giant snowman. My youngest daughter did these and loved the obstacle course one the best.
The three of us did the Ferris wheel and it was a blast. I hadn’t been on one of these old-school ones in forever and it felt secure plus you get a great view of all the lights at the top of the wheel. All the rides have to be regularly inspected so you can feel good knowing they are safe and secure.
Each ride, plus the bouncy house, costs 1 ticket. One ticket = $3, or buy in bulk and get 12 tickets = $30.
Santa is also scheduled to be at Nights of Lights on November 23 & 24, November 29-December 1, and December 6-8, 13-15, and 20-22 from 5:30-8:30 pm. Photos are $5 using your own phone or camera.
There are multiple character appearances – think Elsa, Harry Potter, Moana, the Grinch – which you can see the schedule for here.
Food & S’Mores
Nights of Lights offers lots of yummy food options. We got a funnel cake, which was utterly amazing. They also have delicious hot chocolate.
Other food options are elephant ears, friend oreos, nachos, fries, onion rings, and chicken tenders – all the tasty fair foods.
Honest Mom Review
The Nights of Lights was a really fun experience. My kids, ages 12 and 9, and I all really enjoyed it. I’ve covered all the major light displays in our area and I really liked this one specifically for the walk-through aspect. You can take your time and enjoy all of the neat displays, take as many photos as you like, and make those special memories with your family.
I also enjoyed the petting zoo. I love animals and I feel that it’s usually easy to see if they are well taken care of and happy. These animals definitely were. The enclosures were clean and they seemed to be groomed well and happy. And the parakeet experience was so fun. Those little birds are cute and mischievous. The camel ride was amazing!
And, lastly, getting to speak with the management and learn all the behind-the-scenes things they are doing to make it a great experience for families was fantastic. They set out to make a great event for the Christmas season but also create ways for it to be doable for as many families as possible. Everything was clean and accessible as well, which I thought spoke volumes on the effort put into the event.
Tickets, Hours, and Special Promotions
Nights of Lights is open every day from November 22, 2024 – January 3, 2025. Hours are Sunday-Thursday 5-9 pm and Friday-Saturday from 5-10 pm. You have to pay admission to the entire light display, which includes the display, igloo, and access to Santa’s Village, rides, and the petting zoo. Extras are the cups of food in the petting zoo, pony rides, ice skating, photos with Santa, and rides.
Ticket prices are $15/age 16+ and $12/ages 5-15. Kids age 4 and under are free. No pets allowed; service dogs welcome.
Nights of Lights has promotional pricing nightly. Here’s the schedule:
- Sundays: Senior Citizens (age 65+) are free
- Mondays: Free admission with the donation of non-perishable food items. One free admission per five cans of food per person.
- Tuesdays: Free admission with a toy donation for Toys for Tots or the Greenville Humane Society. Toys must be new in original packaging, not gift-wrapped. One free admission per toy per person.
- Wednesdays: Free admission for active, reserve, and veteran military members (with valid ID).
- Thursdays: Free admission for police officers, nurses, EMS workers, and firefighters (with valid ID).
- Fridays: Free admission for teachers (with valid ID). Homeschool teachers are included (with valid association ID).
Tickets are only sold at the gate. Nights of Lights is accessible and wheelchair-friendly. You can easily take a stroller. Be sure to follow Nights of Lights on Facebook for up-to-date hours and closure due to weather.
For more holiday light displays, see our big Guide to the Best Holiday Light Displays in the Upstate.
Night of Lights at the CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park
861 SE Main Street, Simpsonville
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