Photo courtesy New York
Institute of Photography

Famous City Displays

Across the nation, certain holiday displays have distinguished themselves as world-class attractions. If you're celebrating the season near one of them, make a special point of spending an evening in its glittering thrall. Here are just a few of the well-known displays across the country:

In Kansas City, Missouri, the J.C. Nichols Country Club Plaza is decked out with millions of lights outlining the city's renowned Spanish architecture, tony stores, and famous fountains. Deeper in the state, in country-music territory, Branson boasts a two-month-long Festival of Lights, part of the Ozark Mountain Christmas Celebration; the centerpiece of the festivities is the two-mile-long Festival of Lights Parkway, with 500 Christmas trees set among eye-popping illuminated displays.

In Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Dollywood gussies up with more than 3 million lights for Smoky Mountain Christmas. In Waxahachie, Texas, just outside of Dallas, all the light comes from oil-burning lamps in a live reenactment of Christ's birth in the town of Bethlehem, complete with Roman soldiers in the streets. You'll also see a manger with real camels, wise men, and the holy family; and street vendors and villagers going about their business in historically accurate (for the most part) shops, homes, and synagogues.

In the Orlando, Florida area, Disney-MGM Studios turns it on with the "Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights." Started by Arkansas businessman Jennings Osborne, who honed his skills creating a world-famous display for his daughter in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Osborne show incorporates 350 miles of Christmas lights. In Newport News, Virginia, the 100 Miles of Lights Display features drive- and walk-through light shows, lighted boat parades, and city illuminations. St. Augustine, Florida, lights up its historic bayfront district with its famous Bridge of Lions. In New York, the world's largest menorah burns for the eight nights of Hanukkah near Central Park.

Chicago's Magnificent Mile is even more magnificent with more than a million lights illuminating Michigan Avenue for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival. Out west in Arizona, the Sedona Festival of Lights makes holiday magic with 6,000 Mexican lanterns illuminating the festive Spanish Village. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir provides the soundtrack for millions of twinkling lights at the Temple Square at Christmas in Salt Lake City, Utah. And, of course, there are the nation's most famous Christmas trees, our national tree in Washington, D.C., and the Rockefeller Center tree in New York City.