• By Todd Luck
• Posted Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Tanglewood Festival of Lights happening now

It's that time of year again, as the Tanglewood Festival of Lights is happening nightly at Tanglewood Park near Clemmons.

The nearly five mile-long holiday light show is from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. through Jan. 1, except on Dec. 31 when it closes at 10 p.m. Admission is $15 for cars, vans and trucks; $35 for commercial vans, limos and mini-buses; and $100 for motorcoaches and buses.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Santa Claus will not be at the Festival of Lights this season, but other attractions are open. The Gift Shop at the Red Barn, located halfway through the light show route, offers holiday crafts, wood workings and other fine gifts created by local artisans. The Gift Shop closes at 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 12 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. On Dec. 31, it will close at 10 p.m.

Right outside the Gift Shop is S’Moresville sponsored by Lowes Foods, which sells roasting sticks with marshmallows and s’mores kits. Visitors are not allowed to bring their own sticks or food for roasting. S’Moresville closes at 10 p.m. and is closed Christmas day.

Thursday through Sunday are the show’s most popular nights, so expect long lines and wait times. Visitors can expect four to six hour wait times on weekends.

The Festival of Lights started in 1992 and now attracts an average of 250,000 visitors a year. The show, which has displays both old and new with over a million individual LED lights, has been selected as a Top 20 Event in the Southeast, a Top 200 Event in North America and received an honorable mention from America’s Best Online as one of the best lights shows in the country.

“The long-standing tradition of community is what makes Festival of Lights truly unique. For 27 seasons now, Forsyth County citizens and visitors both near and far have participated in Festival of Lights,” said Forsyth Parks and Recreation Marketing and Events Manager Jessica Sanders. “On any given evening friends, family members and strangers are brought together by this shared holiday experience.”