By Katherine Hatcher | Staff Writer
‘Tis the season to start celebrating Christmas at the Lights of West.
The light attraction park is open from 6-10 p.m. every night from Nov. 27 to Dec. 30 and is located right off of I-35 in West. This Christmas attraction allows people to drive their vehicles through a 25-minute seasonal light display. The park also has activities for children, such as a petting zoo, pony rides for children, writing letters to Santa, watching Christmas movies, pictures with real life Santa and more.
Pizza can be purchased onsite from the Pizza House of West. Other drinks such as coffee and hot chocolate can be purchased inside the gift shop.
Lights of West Co-owner Tom Patterson said this is the park’s fifth year doing the light display, which opened in 2020.
“We were the only thing open, and so we did really, really well our first year, and then we got excited, and we reinvested a lot of money into the into the park and into the property,” Patterson said.
As the years have gone by, Patterson said that attendance has grown by about 15%, creating a total of around 40,000-50,000 people attending every season.
The attendees are not the only thing growing. Jeff Sexton, a co-worker of Patterson’s who helps out wherever needed every year and oversees the trailer and tractor rides, said that the park continues to grow in activities as well, such as the inflatables and bounce house area where children can play.
“The owners have done a real good job every year of adding something new … to the park,” Sexton said.
In addition to some of the other new activities like food and a campfire with s’mores, the park will have live music on various nights throughout the Christmas season. Patterson said that if people are going to attend any night, they should do so on Dec. 14 to see local up-and-coming singer Sami Brown, who Patterson thinks college students would love.
“She’s awesome, and she has her own Christmas set, like 50 songs,” Patterson said.
When the park doesn’t have live music, Patterson said that people are able to participate in “carol-oke,” where people can sing karaoke to popular Christmas tunes.
“We had a five-year-old, it’s not even on our playlist, but she sang … ‘Jesus Loves Me,’ the other night, and the whole park just stopped and watched and they all gave her a big applause at the end,” Patterson said.
Whether singing a Christmas song or enjoying the company of a loved one, Sexton said the park is a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit and do something with family that doesn’t cost much, especially since all tickets prices and activities are listed online.
“I think it’s a chance to get away from really that kind of hustle and bustle,” Sexton said.
Jennifer Gerik, the manager of Lights of West, said that even in a stressful season of finals, college students will likely really enjoy just taking in the lights with their friends.
Patterson said the park receives a large group of college students every year, even though the park is geared towards family, to take pictures with the lights and more.
“We do have a lot of Baylor students that will come in their pajamas, and it’s really the photo opportunities because we have our 20-foot-tall big Santa, our 18-foot-tall snowman. … The college age kids are all about the pictures,” Patterson said.
Along with the photo ops, Sexton said he thinks people will especially enjoy the first part of the drive through, which is his favorite part. The park calls it Candy Cane Lane, where they have a light up yeti that is annually hidden in a different spot.
“It’s a challenge for me to try to find it. … I tell people that, especially if they’ve got a bunch of young kids, we like to play a little game called find the yeti,” Sexton said.
Gerik said that the first half of the drive traditionally features Christmas themes like snowmen and candy canes, but the second half of the drive through beautifully encapsulates why Christmas is celebrated in the first place: Jesus.
“You see Jesus walking on the water. You see the manger. You see the tomb,” Gerik said.
Patterson said that attending the park around Christmas time is fun because it is a great way for families and friends to spend peaceful, quality time together while celebrating what is important.
“It is something else to do — something that’s significant because of the reason for the season,” Patterson said.
