Best Public Holiday Lights Display (2020)

The 94th annual Natchitoches Christmas Festival returns in 2020 with a limited entry event featuring holiday lights, food vendors and fireworks and live music on Saturdays. Visitors can enjoy some 300,000 lights and 100 set pieces on display along the Riverbank. "Louisianians come from all over the state to tiny Natchitoches–best known for its yummy meat pies–to enjoy Cajun-accented revelry," says 10Best contributor Gerrish Lopez.
Photo courtesy of Karen Hoyt / Natchitoches Christmas Festival

The Legendary Lights of Historic Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio lights up with over four million lights each holiday season. The historic mill, gorge, riverbanks, bridges and trees are covered in twinkling bulbs for the event, which includes a 100-foot "waterfall" of lights. The event also features an outdoor miniature Christmas village, Santa Claus Museum, a Toy Collection from holidays past and Santa's Workshop, where visitors can peek in on Mr. Claus as he checks his list and heads up the chimney to load his sleigh.
Photo courtesy of Clifton Mill

Fayetteville’s Downtown Square lights up the night during the holiday season wit the annual Lights of the Ozarks festival. Visitors enjoy festive music, hot cocoa and other winter treats while taking in the views. Bring letters to Santa to drop off at a special mailbox in front of the Visitors Center.
Photo courtesy of USA TODAY

McAdenville is nicknamed Christmas Town USA for a good reason. Every winter, this small town in North Carolina transforms into a festive, twinkling wonderland, dotted with thousands of lights, dramatic displays and a spirited Main Street. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to Christmas Town USA every December to drive through the 1.3-mile-long route through breathtaking holiday displays – a tradition that dates back to the ‘50s. 
Photo courtesy of STEVE RANKIN / CHRISTMAS TOWN USA

This holiday season, the Austin Trail of Lights takes over Zilker Park for the 56th anniversary of the popular Hill Country event. The 2020 installment will be a drive-thru event featuring more than two million lights, 90 lighted trees and some 70 other seasonal displays and tunnels.
Photo courtesy of Seymour Lacey / Austin Trail of Lights

This winter, the gardens at Naumkeag in Stockbridge and the Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate in Canton will light up with thousands of twinkling holiday lights during the Winterlights event. Timed tickets give guests a one-hour window to enjoy the display while enjoying some seasonal foods and refreshments.
Photo courtesy of Trustees of Reservations

During Lights on the Lake, visitors can hop in their cars for the 2-mile drive-thru light show. The 2020 event features a fantasy forest, animated scenes and an illuminated Land of Oz, among other festive displays.
Photo courtesy of Lights on the Lake

Attendees of Lights Under Louisville head underground into the passages of Louisville Mega Cavern for this holiday tradition. The popular attraction transforms into a spectacle of more than five million lights with over 850 lit characters. Visitors take their own cars on the 30-minute ride through the world's only fully underground drive through holiday light display for a totally contactless experience.
Photo courtesy of Louisville Mega Cavern

"America's oldest city comes alive every holiday season, enchanting visitors looking to enjoy warm-weather festive fun," says 10Best contributor Eric Grossman. St. Augustine draws on the Spanish tradition of placing white candles in the window during the holidays, but takes it to new festive heights with more than three million points of light within the 144-square-block historic district during the free holiday event.
Photo courtesy of FloridasHistoricCoast.com

Bright Nights has been lighting up Forest Park in Springfield, Massachusetts since 1995 with more than 675,000 lights along a three-mile drive-thru route. 
Photo courtesy of Bright Nights at Forest Park