10 Best Places to See Holiday Lights in Vermont

Vermont isn’t the kind of place that touts miles of splashy holiday lights along big city boulevards; instead, towns across the Green Mountain State find their own ways to shine, large and small. From tractors to a waterfall, from a historic steamship to a blazing Yule log on a village green, Vermont has no end of wonderful, unique displays to brighten the holiday season.

Winter Lights at Shelburne Museum | Shelburne

Shelburne Museum had a big hit on its hands when it debuted Winter Lights in 2021, so it’s no surprise the event has kept coming back more sparkly than ever. Visitors can explore an extravaganza of illumination throughout the museum’s campus in Shelburne, including the Lake Champlain steamer Ticonderoga — high, dry, handsome, and bedecked with lights. Special events include an Ice Bar evening for 21+. Select dates Nov. 24, 2023–Jan. 6, 2024; see website for details.

A Forest of Lights | Quechee

Although wild critters are the undisputed stars at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), the landscape itself steps into the spotlight during A Forest of Lights, when the VINS Forest Canopy Walk and surrounding woodland are dressed in thousands of twinkling bulbs. Visitors are invited to stroll through the immersive illuminated forest and experience its peace and wonder. Select dates Nov. 24, 2023–Jan. 3, 2024; see website for details.

Spruce Peak Lights Festival | Stowe

Held at the Lodge at Spruce Peak at Stowe Mountain Resort, the Spruce Peak Lights Festival offers evergreens laden with tiny lights as the picture-perfect background for the evening’s Christmas tree lighting, while the mountaintop itself is the launch locale for a spectacular fireworks display. While waiting for the pyrotechnics, watch professional ice dancing performances — or take to the ice yourself — and look for a visit from Santa. Dec. 16, 2023.

Festival of Trees | St. Albans

St. Albans enjoys one of the state’s loveliest downtown green spaces, Taylor Park. Graced with a magnificent fountain, it also has dozens of stately trees that are illuminated for the weeklong Festival of Trees, which includes a dazzling laser light show during the kickoff on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Plus, all December long, visitors are invited to take a “Tree Walk” to view decorated trees in downtown shop windows. Nov. 25–Dec. 3, 2023; see website for other event details.

Church Street Marketplace | Burlington

All along its bustling four blocks of shops and restaurants, Church Street Marketplace is decked out for the holidays, with garlands of lights weaving overhead and businesses vying to outdo each other with window displays. Take it all in on the day after Thanksgiving, with the Santa Parade and the lighting of a towering evergreen at the head of this popular pedestrian mall, and look for other events ranging from live music performances to kids’ train rides. Parade and tree lighting Nov. 24, 2023; see website for other event details.

Very Merry Middlebury | Middlebury

Any town can light its streets, but how many get to light a waterfall? During December’s Very Merry Middlebury celebration, this college town’s central water feature, the falls of Otter Creek, is spectacularly illuminated in an array of glowing colors. Not that the rest of downtown will be in the dark — holiday lights abound, reaching a bright crescendo at the town Christmas tree in the Marble Works Riverfront Park. ”First Saturday” fun includes free wagon rides and photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, while “Midd Night Strolls” feature specials, promotions, food trucks and pop-ups around the downtown. First Saturday Dec. 2, 2023; Midd Night Strolls Dec. 7 and 14, 2023; see website for other event details.

Christmas Lights at the Joseph Smith Birthplace | South Royalton

At the Joseph Smith Birthplace in South Royalton, the extensive grounds surrounding a monument to the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints blaze with color each holiday season. Tens of thousands of tiny lights cast nearly every tree in a different color, while visitors make a slow circuit of the site’s paved drives to take it all in. Nov. 24, 2023–Jan. 1, 2024.

Manchester Merriment | Manchester

To be sure, Manchester will be adorned with plenty of holiday lights that stay serenely in one place during its annual monthlong holiday celebration, Manchester Merriment. But to really catch the spirit of the town, the place to be is along the roadside to watch the lights roll by at the annual Lighted Tractor Parade, featuring more than two dozen tractors, with floats in tow, illuminated to the nth degree and competing for prizes. Lighted Tractor Parade Dec. 2, 2023; see website for other event details.

Winter Lights in the Park | Essex Junction

Beginning on Thanksgiving and running till New Year’s, Winter Lights in the Park in Essex Junction is truly a signature holiday celebration. Trees throughout Maple Street Park, just a few blocks from the village’s Five Corners center, glitter with lights as speakers play seasonal tunes. Special ornaments are hidden in the trees, and visitors are challenged to spot them in a merry scavenger hunt. Nov. 23, 2023–Jan. 1, 2024.

Wassail Weekend | Woodstock

Woodstock’s streets are bedecked with lights all through the Yuletide, but the best time to visit is Wassail Weekend. Village homes show off their decorations during a house tour, Billings Farm basks in the glow of old-fashioned lighting and decorations, and the town green is the scene for the most spectacular light of all: the lighting of 400 luminaries. Dec. 8–10, 2023