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Millions of Sparkling Reasons to Drive Through Branson, Missouri This Holiday Season
Visitors to Chateau on the Lake, a fabulous hotel in Branson, Missouri, delight in a unique and magical holiday experience throughout the month of December, as the city offers several holiday-themed shows, special Christmas events, great shopping, and - perhaps most famously - spectacular drive-through lighting displays.
Running from November to the New Year, the Branson Area Festival of Lights (BAFOL) offers Branson hotel guests millions of sparkling reasons to visit the Ozarks each winter. A tremendous and moving presentation, Branson's customary Festival of Lights features over five million Christmas lights by which approximately 31,000 vehicles pass during the holiday season.
This year, the Branson Area Festival of Lights returned to the Branson Hills Parkway, located just off Highway 65 north of Branson. Only minutes from the Chateau on the Lake, the festival serves as the centerpiece to what is collectively referred to as the celebration of an Ozark Mountain Christmas.
The Branson Area Festival of Lights began on the first of November, when Branson Mayor Lou Schaefer flipped a large switch to ceremoniously turn on all of the lights. The widely recognized lights display returned this year after a one-year absence due to construction in the area of the display. The show is back "with a larger route and more displays," BAFOL board member Jerry Adams said.
As they travel, spectators enjoy a variety of traditional, contemporary, religious, and secular holiday scenes. These include an animated "Twelve Days of Christmas Display," Santa and his leaping reindeer, sailboats on the water, an inspiring nativity scene, and many more. Guests at the Chateau on the Lake Hotel Branson are welcome to join the community-wide celebration, as all of Branson is aglow for the holidays.
The 2.5-mile route is one mile longer than in the past and boasts of approximately 100 more displays. The route starts at the same place it always did but at its end features a surprise. There, the drive-through features a new attraction for the younger guests of the Chateau on the Lake - Santa Claus. "On Friday and Saturday nights . . . there will be an area for kids to visit with Santa Claus," said Adams.
Although the Branson Area Festival of Lights exists as the largest drive-through light show in Branson for Branson hotel guests, two similar exhibits are also available for the enjoyment of Branson hotel guests. These include the Shepherd of the Hills Trail of Lights, arranged on West Highway 76, and the Port of Lights, found off Highway 13 in Kimberling City.