BY MAGGIE WESTERMAN
The holiday season is back, and so are spectacular light displays across Northeast Pennsylvania.
The Festival of Lights at StoneHedge Golf Course, 55 Stonehedge Drive, Tunkhannock, gives guests a chance to drive through a festive light display. The attraction is open to guests Sundays through Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m., excluding Christmas Eve. The light show will close Tuesday, Dec. 31.
Along with an extensive light display, the Festival of Lights will include a Christmas train, food, s’mores kits and firepits, a vendor marketplace and plenty of photo opportunities, including free pictures with Santa. Admission costs $25 per vehicle from Sundays through Thursdays and $30 per vehicle Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.
It’s not Christmas time in Lackawanna County without the lights at Nay Aug Park, 500 Arthur Ave., Scranton. Drive or walk by the more than 100 light displays the city of Scranton will showcase this year. Nay Aug’s display is free, though donations are accepted. Guests can attend daily from 5 to 9 p.m. through Monday, Jan. 6.
If guests want to try taking a different mode of transportation through the display, horse-drawn carriage rides provided by Brookvalley Farm will be available Fridays through Sundays from 6 to 9 p.m.. Guests can take the ride for a fee, boarding in the lot just behind the Everhart Museum. For more information, visit the Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau website.
FILE PHOTO
StoneHedge Golf Course’s seasonal light display
Local universities also are trying to make NEPA merry and bright. Marywood University will light its Christmas tree Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 4 p.m. in the Rotunda of the university’s Liberal Arts Center. The free event is open to the public.
Following the tree lighting, visitors can walk or drive through campus to check out the “Light Up Campus” lights display, which students in Marywood’s Interior Architecture Club designed.
If you’re looking for a more formal affair, check out Woodloch Resort’s “Festival of Lights” wagon ride, which will show guests tens of thousands of lights depicting famous holiday characters and movies. After the wagon ride, enjoy dinner and hot chocolate at the main lodge. Tickets cost $26 for adults and $13 for children 12 and younger, plus tax and gratuity. For more information or to reserve a spot, call 570-685-8002.
Residents of Northeast Pennsylvania also continue to present their own elaborate light displays. A Lackawanna County favorite is the Peckville Christmas House, 1130 Marion St., which features hundreds of blowmolds, figures and more. A grand lighting will take place Friday, Nov. 28, at 5 p.m. The display will remain open Mondays through Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m. and Fridays through Sundays from 5 to 10 p.m. through Tuesday, Jan. 7. Guests are encouraged to come by and take photos at the festive residence.
Another fan favorite home is the Holiday House, 638 Moosic St., Scranton, which features lights, displays and festive scenes in its front yard and along the side alley. A few blocks away, the home at 300 Prospect Ave., Scranton, also dazzles with thousands of lights. For details, visit the Facebook event page for Holiday House Scranton and the Prospect Avenue home.
Members of the Carbondale community can be involved in a light display of their own. The City of Carbondale is looking for members of the community to participate in the 2019 Lighted Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 7. For more information about that event, visit the Facebook page.
Contact the writer: mwesterman@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9127
