The holidays are well underway, and perhaps you haven’t planned anything for your team or a group of VIP clients yet. Remember when you drove around and looked at all the colorful lights with your family as a kid? It’s still awe-inspiring—just add some VIP touches to make it extra special like hiring a limo or shuttle, hosting pre-lights happy hour with holiday-centric cocktails and tasty appetizers, providing gifts like light-up necklaces and Santa hats, and stopping for dinner at someplace fun and festive.
Three northern Colorado communities—Estes Park, Fort Collins, and Loveland—make exploring spectacular lights easy for groups with the new NoCo Light Trail. Since Fort Collins and Loveland are close enough that you can easily make it to more than one of the displays in an evening, this article focuses on these two communities, but if time allows to travel, check out Catch the Glow holiday season lights and festivities in Estes Park through Jan. 1.
To make it especially simple to tour holiday lights in Fort Collins and Loveland, hire NoCo Party Bus for two-hour holiday tours in limousine buses on Sundays through Thursdays until Dec. 28 (except Dec. 24 and 25). Vehicles that fit 12 to 30 passengers are available, and pickups are available in Fort Collins, Loveland, Timnath, Wellington, and Windsor.
Fort Collins
You will need to get out of the vehicle for Garden of Lights at The Gardens on Spring Creek in Fort Collins that runs Dec. 8-23. Garden of Lights features a half-mile loop with glowing grapevines, towering flowerbeds, dancing color blossoms, and other imaginative displays made of hundreds of thousands of glittering lights. Stop by and greet Santa at Everitt Pavilion, and festive drinks are available for purchase at the full bar.
In Old Town Fort Collins, see 22 blocks of downtown illuminated with thousands of strands of lights in alleyways, along sidewalks, and within treetops. The impressive display of low-energy and sustainable LED lights can be enjoyed every night from the first week in November through Valentine’s Day.
Now in its fourth year, NoCo Winter Wonderland is a one-mile-long, drive-through holiday light extravaganza located in Fort Collins near County Road 5 and Kechter. Available for viewing through Dec. 25, this Colorado Youth Outdoors’ holiday experience showcases Santa, Mrs. Claus, and a slew of elves on 220 acres. Also don’t miss five Colorado big game species. There is even a group deal for more than 10 vehicles.
Loveland
For six weeks each holiday season, Loveland hosts one of the top free choreographed holiday light shows in the state. Winter Wonderlights returns to Chapungu Sculpture Park at Centerra nightly through Jan. 1. The final Winter Wonderlights LIVE! celebration takes place Dec. 16 and includes an appearance by Santa, live reindeer, ice sculpting, dance performances on an inflatable igloo stage, and a variety of food trucks and giveaways.
The self-guided Loveland Light Trail highlights the best organized light displays in town, including Winter Wonderlights, Festival of Lights, and Christmas Walk in the Woods. Don’t miss the new 12 Days of Christmas display at Dwayne Webster Veteran’s Memorial Park that will be lit from 5 to 9 p.m. daily through Jan. 1.
Gather your crew, tour the stunning holiday light displays in Fort Collins and Loveland, and celebrate the season.
