Woodland Park Zoo's winter light festival swaps strings of bulbs for large illuminated lanterns shaped like animals and habitats, set along the zoo's paths after dark. It runs from mid-November well past the holidays, into mid-January, which makes it one of the few big light shows still glowing after New Year's. Gates open at 4 […]
For 32 years, architects have teamed with the Sheraton's chefs to build a village of six-foot gingerbread structures in the downtown hotel, each season built around a new theme you only learn when you visit. Last year's was a toy shop time machine. The display benefits Breakthrough T1D and type 1 diabetes research, and the […]
Seattle Center's South Fountain Lawn turns into a European-style Christmas village for five weeks, with wooden stalls from local and European vendors, a carousel, a walk-through tree, daily snow showers and Santa visits. The heated Alpen Haus inside Fisher Pavilion has tables for warming up with food and festive drinks. Tickets are timed and cheapest […]
The Oregon Zoo trades daytime animal-watching for a nighttime walk through grounds wrapped in light displays, from the main paths to the hillside trees. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. each night, with timed tickets sold online in advance and priced by date, so the Value Nights in late November, early December and January 3 are […]
Downtown Hillsboro kicks off the season a week before Thanksgiving with an afternoon that ends in a tree lighting on the Civic Center Plaza at 6 p.m. Before that, there's […]
Since 1949, a decorated Christmas Ship has sailed around Puget Sound and Lake Washington with a live choir on board, stopping off waterfront parks for 20-minute concerts piped to shore. You can ride the Spirit of Seattle itself, join the 21-and-over Follow Boat, or just show up at a beach with a thermos. Shore stops […]
For its 30th season, the Northwest's big Christmas light festival at Warm Beach Camp, north of Marysville near Stanwood, becomes mainly a walking event. Guests stroll at their own pace past more than a million lights, with a Christmas market, food, costumed characters, mini-golf, a light maze and train rides along the way. It runs […]
For three weekends starting the day after Thanksgiving, the Japanese Garden in Washington Park dresses for the season with traditional winter decorations. Visitors can shop Japanese and Japanese-inspired gifts, have them wrapped in furoshiki cloth, and leave with a take-home origami ornament. Seasonal teas and treats are on at the Umami Café, and garden tours […]
Tacoma's long-running holiday light show takes over Point Defiance Zoo after dark, with light displays strung along the zoo's paths above Commencement Bay. It's a walking show rather than an animal visit, since the exhibits close for the evening, so come for the lights, a hot drink and a loop of the grounds. Tickets are […]
A drive-through light show on the racetrack at Portland International Raceway, and the single largest fundraiser for the Sunshine Division's hunger-relief work. Tickets are priced per carload, so pile in the grandparents and cousins and tune the radio while you roll the course. Weeknights are cheaper and calmer than weekends or the December 16 to […]
The Grotto's wooded sanctuary in Northeast Portland turns into a quarter-mile walk of lights each evening from November 27 to December 30. The music is the draw: school, church and civic choirs sing in the Chapel of Mary's acoustics, the Grotto Carolers perform at the bottom of each hour, and a puppet show plays in […]
Every night at 7 p.m. from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, Bellevue Way between NE 4th and NE 8th turns into a short holiday parade: toy drummers, dancers, lighted floats, music and machine-made snow drifting down over the crowd. With free admission and free parking in the Bellevue Collection garages, it makes an […]
Downtown's holiday season officially starts the day after Thanksgiving, back in a renovated Westlake Park after last year's move to Westlake Center during construction. From 11 a.m. there are craft tables, costumed characters and sweets for kids, and at 5 p.m. the giant tree and star are lit, followed right away by fireworks. Last year's […]
Santa arrives in Vancouver by river: he sails down the Columbia with an escort from the Christmas Ships, steps ashore at the waterfront's Terminal 1, then rides a parade of lighted vehicles up to Esther Short Park. The park program runs from 3:30 to 7 p.m. with music, entertainment and refreshments, rides on the Loci, […]
Downtown's holiday season officially starts the night after Thanksgiving, when Santa flips the switch on the city tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square and nearly 10,000 colored lights come on. This is the 42nd year. Pink Martini's Thomas Lauderdale leads the community sing-along with local singers and choirs, so come ready to belt out the classics […]
Bellevue Botanical Garden's holiday display shapes its lights into the garden itself: glowing flowers, plants and small critters tucked into the beds along the paths, with a scavenger-hunt map for kids who want to find them all. Entry is by half-hour timed ticket, starting at 4:30 p.m. The first two weeks have $5 Monday-through-Thursday nights, […]
Volunteer skippers have strung their boats with lights and cruised the rivers every December for about seven decades, and the fleets sail most nights from December 3 to 20. The Willamette fleet leaves RiverPlace Marina for runs toward Johns Landing, the Fremont Bridge or Milwaukie; the Columbia fleet works from the M. James Gleason Boat […]
For its 30th season, the Northwest's big Christmas light festival at Warm Beach Camp, north of Marysville near Stanwood, becomes mainly a walking event. Guests stroll at their own pace past more than a million lights, with a Christmas market, food, costumed characters, mini-golf, a light maze and train rides along the way. It runs […]
For three weekends starting the day after Thanksgiving, the Japanese Garden in Washington Park dresses for the season with traditional winter decorations. Visitors can shop Japanese and Japanese-inspired gifts, have them wrapped in furoshiki cloth, and leave with a take-home origami ornament. Seasonal teas and treats are on at the Umami Café, and garden tours […]
Chabad Center for Jewish Life lights Portland's public menorah in Pioneer Courthouse Square across Hanukkah, from Friday, December 4, through Sunday, December 13. The gathering runs late afternoon into early evening, right as downtown workers head home, and it brings a different kind of light to the city's living room during its busiest month. Bring […]
Volunteer skippers have strung their boats with lights and cruised the rivers every December for about seven decades, and the fleets sail most nights from December 3 to 20. The Willamette fleet leaves RiverPlace Marina for runs toward Johns Landing, the Fremont Bridge or Milwaukie; the Columbia fleet works from the M. James Gleason Boat […]
Redmond's winter festival is more art show than Christmas display: a month of illuminated installations by local and regional artists in Downtown Park and Overlake's Esterra Park. This year's pieces include Ai-Chun Huang's walk-through woven mountains, an interactive infinity mirror, a glowing pop-art salute to Redmond and a light piece driven by the city's streams […]
Volunteer skippers have strung their boats with lights and cruised the rivers every December for about seven decades, and the fleets sail most nights from December 3 to 20. The Willamette fleet leaves RiverPlace Marina for runs toward Johns Landing, the Fremont Bridge or Milwaukie; the Columbia fleet works from the M. James Gleason Boat […]