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Holiday Lights in Virginia - Create Your Own Family Traditions. The magic of the holiday season is set to sparkle across Virginia with Christmas light displays offering countless memory making possibilities for families. From miles of lights along the Boardwalk on Virginia Beach to the magic of Alexandria celebrating is in the air.Santa Arrives at Virginia Beach
 
Here's the scoop. Sharing the joy of the holiday season often means finding fun in small doses. Virginia has terrific ways to share the fun featuring miles of twinkling lights, live entertainment, living history, and enchanting animated light displays created to bring joy to the holiday season. Featured below you will find the best holiday lights to share with children during the holiday season in Virginia.   

Hampton - Imagine 100 Miles of Lights
(mid November to January). Millions of lights and hundreds of events will entertain visitors during "100 Miles of Lights" - an American Bus Association Top 100 Event. More than two million twinkling lights create a magical atmosphere for a wide range of family-friendly events and activities. From festive boat parades and city illuminations to living history re-enactments, caroling, and dance, celebrating is the idea. The twinkling route includes Hampton and six other cities: Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Richmond, Williamsburg, and Virginia Beach. Hampton holiday celebrations include Holly Days Downtown Illumination and Parade of Sail along the Hampton Waterfront, and art marketplace, harbor lights tours and the Spirit of Hampton Roads Parade. Bonus Points: At the Hampton History Museum share family time making  heirloom ornaments, singing Christmas carols, and sipping cider during the annual First Light Celebration.  (100 Miles of Lights, call toll-free 1-888-493-7386, extension 100 or www.100milesoflights.com)  

Virginia Beach - Enjoy the Best Holiday Lights at the Beach (mid November to January). The famous Boardwalk turns glamorous during the holiday season with millions of twinkling lights creating a most magical atmosphere. The iconic oceanfront becomes a “fanta-sea” of nautical and holiday characters, with more than 250 animated nautical and holiday-themed light displays. The annual celebration invites visitors to listen to holiday music and drive down the boardwalk dazzled by jumping fish, surfing Santas, and playful mermaids. Bonus Points: Every car along the boardwalk will receive a free CD of holiday music to help set the celebratory mood. (Virginia Beach. (757) 491-7866, toll-free 1-800-822-3224 or www.vbfun.com)

Colonial Williamsburg - Enjoy Christmas Lights and Living History (December to January). The holiday season in Colonial Williamsburg features an entire range of family-friendly events and classic celebrations. The most impressive being the Grand Illumination which heralds the Christmas season with candles, fireworks and music as well as costumed performers presenting holiday entertainment typical of Williamsburg two centuries ago. Bonus Points: On Christmas Eve a torch-bearing fife and drum corps contingent parades down Williamsburg's Palace Green, leading guests toward the Courthouse of 1770 to celebrate the illumination of the community tree on Market Square. (Colonial Williamsburg, 23187. (757) 229-1000 or www.history.org)

Bull Run Festival of Lights - Lively Bonfires and Camel Rides (month of December). Two and a half miles of fanciful light displays bring the holiday season into focus at Bull Run. A holiday village completes the experiences with lively bonfires, tasty s’mores, holiday shopping options, and Mr. Claus himself. Free children’s activities include cookie decorating, holiday bingo, and a scavenger hunt. Bonus Points:  Bar C Ranch provides camel rides weather permitting. (Bull Run Regional Park 7700 Bull Run Drive Centreville, VA 20121. (703) 631-0550 or www.bullrunfestivaloflights.com)

Content researched and posted by Nancy Nelson-Duac, Curator of the Good Stuff for the Family Travel Files. Images provided by Virginia beach CVB. Copyright updated 2017.