After 31 years at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, one of the city's most popular holiday traditions is moving to the Virginia Aquarium nature trail for an immersive, walkable experience.
“Holiday Trail of Lights” will wind through seven themed areas, each offering a distinct visual and interactive adventure, including:
Dickens Drive: Designed with touches of Victorian England and Charles Dickens-inspired décor, lanterns and carolers
Glowing Grove & Snowflake Symphony: A musical landscape with a grove of colorfully lit pillars that lead to a stage of 20-foot trees, dancing arches and shimmering snowflakes.
Light Fall Forest: An immersive display, featuring hundreds of strands of lights that create a canopy.
Santa’s Stroll: Whimsical scenes leading to interactive video floors and walls, suspended white trees and a 40-foot decorated tower.
Flurry Lane: A classical shimmering white wonderland.
Glimmer Games & Toy Soldier Tower: People can play in the lights within vast caves. Nearby, Toy Soldier Tower provides a bird’s-eye view of the show.
Enchanted Forest: A woodland path beneath dancing laser stars and forest scenes; bubbles drift through laser beams where children can chase and catch fog-filled bubbles.
The show was designed by light-show creators James Bain and Ken MacMaster, who have built displays for the Brooklyn and Cincinnati zoos, the "Light of Christmas" show at Chicago White Sox stadium and holiday projects at several Six Flags parks.
Timed tickets go on sale Thursday, Sept. 24; the show runs Friday, Nov. 20 through Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027.
Tickets: $19 to $22 for adults; $12 to $15 for children, with discounts for military families on Monday nights and discounts for Aquarium members.
Visit BeachEventsVB.com for tickets and more information.