Nothing gets us in the holiday mood quite like a festive light display. Whether you’re excited to celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or simply trying to ward off the long dark nights of a Pacific Northwest winter, you’ll love these holiday light displays in Seattle. The best part is that many of them are free to view!
Read on for where you can find the most festive holiday light displays in Seattle this season:
1. Astra Lumina: A Night Walk Amongst The Stars
Astra Lumina: A Night Walk Amongst The Stars has returned to Seattle for a second year! The Seattle Chinese Garden has been transformed with light displays, projections, and music for an awe-inspiring night walk. Get tickets here for select dates in November, December, and January.
📅When: now through January 31, 2025
📍Where: Seattle Chinese Garden
🎁 Get an Astra Lumina gift card here
2. WildLanterns at the Zoo
Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo is lit up at night for winter cheer once again! You can go to the zoo almost any evening after 4:00 p.m. (except for Mondays) to see animal and nature-themed lanterns and more festive light displays. This is a great family-friendly activity but it’s fun for adults too, especially now that they have new 21+ Night Owl Evenings this year. Read more about this year’s WildLanterns before you go.
📅When: November 15, 2024 through January 19, 2025
📍Where: Woodland Park Zoo
3. Tree Lighting Celebration at Westlake Park
If your thoughts immediately turn to Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, you’ll want to head over to Westlake Park to catch the annual Seattle tree lighting ceremony. The free activities starts at noon but make sure you’re there before 5:00 p.m. to get a good view of the tree lighting that is followed by fireworks. The tree and the Macy’s holiday star will be lit up for the rest of December.
📅When: Friday, November 29 onwards
📍Where: Westlake Park in downtown Seattle
4. Musical lights and Santa at Westlake Park
Westlake Park in downtown Seattle comes alive for the holidays with festive lights in addition to the massive Christmas tree. Plus on Saturday, November 30 and every Saturday in December you can get free photos with Santa while enjoying the musical lights and other free activities in the park. See more info on the downtown Seattle website.
📅When: November 29 through December 2024
📍Where: Westlake Park
5. Magic in the Market
In addition to all-day entertainment, shopping, and free photos with Santa, the annual Magic in the Market will have a lighting ceremony at 5:00 p.m. After a countdown led by Santa, the exterior of Pike Place Market will be lit up with festive holiday lights. Read all about this year’s Magic in the Market before you go. And if you miss the event, you can visit Pike Place Market all throughout the holiday season to see the lights.
📅When: Saturday, November 30 through December 2024
📍Where: Pike Place Market
6. Seattle Center Winterfest
On the Friday after Thanksgiving you can head to Seattle Center for the opening day of their season-long Winterfest celebration. There will be a countdown to the lighting of their Campus Luminata at 5:00 p.m., followed by more festive light shows throughout Seattle Center. See more details about Seattle Center Winterfest.
📅When: November 29 through December 31, 2024
📍Where: Seattle Center
7. Christmas Ship Festival
A very Seattle holiday tradition is Christmas lights on the water. You can view the lit-up Argosy Cruises Christmas Ship Festival from the shore or even participate on one of the boats. The official Christmas ship is the Spirit of Seattle, which will be lit up with hundreds of festive lights for its grand finale on Lake Union on December 23. Read all about the festival events coming up on the Argosy Cruises website.
📅When: Saturday, November 23 to Monday, December 23, 2024
📍Where: multiple locations
8. Pathway of Lights at Green Lake
Make the dark winter season feel more festive with a stroll around Green Lake during the annual Pathway of Lights event that is free for all. The walking path and docks will be decked out with thousands of luminaries from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. There will also be hot drinks, giveaways, and holiday music.
📅When: Saturday, December 14, 2024
📍Where: Green Lake
9. Seattle neighborhood holiday light displays
A free and easy way to enjoy holiday lights is to simply drive or stroll around Seattle neighborhoods that are known for going all-out this time of year. We recommend exploring Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood (especially near Kerry Park), Crown Hill (look for Olympic Manor and the Nutcracker House in particular), and the famous Candy Cane Lane in Ravenna.
10. Garden d’Lights
If you’ve checked off all the holiday light displays in Seattle, you can make the short drive over to Bellevue for their Garden d’Lights display in the Bellevue Botanical Garden. Tickets are $8 (children age 10 and under are free) and the display is all outdoors, rain or shine. Note that it is closed on Christmas Day. Get more info on the Garden d’Lights event webpage.
📅When: November 30 to December 31, 2024
📍Where: Bellevue Botanical Garden
11. Holiday Magic by the Washington State Fair
If you want to make a day trip out of it, you can drive about an hour south to Puyallup—where the famous Washington State Fair takes place—to see the fairgrounds transformed for 13 days of holiday fun. In addition to festive light displays there will be free carnival rides, food, a holiday market, and ice skating. See more details and get tickets on the fair website.
📅When: December 6-8, 12-15 & 18-23, 2024
📍Where: 110 9th Avenue SW, Puyallup, WA