Most Gaithersburg households know Winter Lights as a drive. You line up on Clopper Road after dark, roll 3.5 miles through Seneca Creek State Park and pick out favorites from more than 450 displays. The festival is back for its 31st season, open to cars nightly from November 27 through December 31 and closed December 25.
The drive is only part of the season, though. On the City of Gaithersburg's festival page, four "Enchanted Evenings" are listed as "available before Winter Lights opens to vehicle traffic." They fall on four nights in a row, November 20 through 23. These are the hardest Winter Lights tickets to get. One is already full, with a waitlist. The others carry the city's warning that they typically sell out. No two of them are designed for the same group of people.
One Week, Four Different Guest Lists
The four evenings work less like one event held four times and more like four separate events that happen to use the same lights. Each has its own rules about age, dogs and whether you ride or walk. Most of them don't overlap.
| Evening | Date and time | Admission | How you see the lights | Who can come |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S'more Lights | Fri., Nov. 20, 6–9 p.m. | $15 per person; children 3 and under free | Trolley only, no walking | All ages, no dogs |
| MCRRC Run Under the Lights | Sat., Nov. 21, 6:15 p.m. start | $45.40 with fee; $40.40 for ages 15 and under | 5K run/walk on closed park roads | Registered runners and walkers |
| Sip & Sparkle | Sun., Nov. 22, 6–9 p.m. | $40 with tastings, $25 without | Three-mile open-air trolley, no walking | Ages 21 and up, no dogs |
| Walk & Wag | Mon., Nov. 23, 6–9 p.m. | $10 per person; dogs and children 3 and under free | Walking only, 1-mile or 3-mile route | All ages, dogs welcome |
The table shows the main tradeoff. Families with young children and families with a dog are booking different nights. If the dog has to come, Walk & Wag is the only option, and it has no trolley. If someone in your group would rather ride than walk three miles in late November, the city points you to Friday or Sunday instead.
Friday's S'more Lights
S'more Lights is the family night. The city describes it as making s'mores "in a beautiful woodland setting," followed by a trolley ride through the displays, a visit with Santa, and music and activities in a heated tent. Everyone goes home with a holiday craft. The Eventbrite listing adds hot drinks and says food is sold separately. It also notes that children 3 and under get in free but still need a ticket. Last entry is 8 p.m., and the last Santa photos are at 8:30. If the reason you're going is the photo, that half hour matters.
Sunday's Sip & Sparkle
Sip & Sparkle is for adults only, ages 21 and up with valid ID. The $40 tasting ticket comes with eight tasting tickets, a souvenir glass, light refreshments and hot drinks. The ride is a three-mile open-air trolley, with music, food bites, a Santa photo spot and a heated tent. Full pours, bottles and extra food are cash only. The $25 ticket covers the evening without the tastings, which helps if one person in your group is driving home. The listing describes the vendors only as "local makers." Last entry is earlier than on the other nights, at 7:30 p.m.
Monday's Walk & Wag
Walk & Wag is the only night you can see the displays on foot without registering for a race. You can choose "a leisurely 1-mile stroll or an invigorating 3-mile walk," with a hot drink and a selfie with Santa along the way. The Eventbrite listing also mentions dog-related exhibitors and vendors and food for purchase. At $10 a person with dogs free, it's the cheapest way into the park all season. The city page also lists a $15 door price, but the same page says there are no onsite sales for Walk & Wag. Plan on buying online.
Saturday's 5K Shows How Fast the Week Fills
Saturday belongs to the Montgomery County Road Runners Club's Run Under the Lights, a 5K run/walk that starts at 6:15 p.m. on park roads closed to traffic except for emergency and race vehicles.
Registration is already full. On the race's RunSignup page, the 2026 race is full, with a waitlist open. As of late October, the waitlist page showed about 335 people. Picks from the list began October 1, first come, first served. The race takes place nearly two months after that date, and the wait for a spot is about the size of a small race of its own.
Tickets for the city's three Enchanted Evenings went on sale October 15 at 10 a.m. The race is already full, and the other three pages each say the evening "typically sells out." Every Enchanted Evening page also says there are no rain dates. A ticket is good for that one night, whatever the weather.
The Drive Has More Room, and the Calendar Decides the Price
The drive-through season works differently from the Enchanted Evenings. It runs for five weeks instead of four nights, and you buy one ticket per vehicle instead of per person. Weekday drives cost $15 from Monday through Thursday, weekend drives cost $25 from Friday through Sunday, and vehicles carrying 15 or more passengers pay $35. Those prices haven't changed since 2025. The route length and display count are also the same as in MoCo Show's coverage of last year's 30th season.
The drive has its own limits too. The city's admission notice sets these rules:
- Every Winter Lights event needs a ticket bought in advance, and tickets can sell out.
- Tickets are good only on the date you pick.
- The city limits how many tickets it sells each day.
- You can exchange a ticket ahead of time if space allows. A weekday ticket can move to another weekday. A weekend ticket can move to any day, but you don't get the price difference back.
The fourth rule is the useful one if your December plans are uncertain. A $25 weekend ticket is the most flexible ticket the festival sells. A $15 weekday ticket costs less but can only move to another weekday. The Enchanted Evenings have neither kind of flexibility, because each one happens on a single night.
The festival page's practical advice is to check WTOP, Waze or Apple Maps for wait times before you leave, fill the gas tank, bring a phone charger for mobile tickets, and arrive close to 5:30 p.m. Portable restrooms are near the park entrance and the admissions loop.
Free Evenings in Town Before November 20
The weeks before the Enchanted Evenings include several city events that need no tickets at all.
- Altar del Día de los Muertos, through November 6 at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park. The exhibit is free and opened October 19.
- Sign Unveiling & Museum Celebration, Saturday, November 7 at 2 p.m. at History Park, 7 South Summit Avenue. The city is unveiling new interpretive signs based on the first phase of the Gaithersburg History Project's research on Black Gaithersburg. Afterward, the Gaithersburg Community Museum has special exhibits and a new interactive kiosk on the same research.
- Veterans Day Observance, Wednesday, November 11 at 11 a.m. at the City Hall Concert Pavilion, 31 S. Summit Ave.
If you need dinner before S'more Lights or Sip & Sparkle, Gaithersburg has a few new places since last year's festival. Kareem's Lebanese Kitchen opened in August at Rio Lakefront, 212 Boardwalk Place, according to The Daily Record. MoCo Show reported that Maryland's first Guapo's GO had started its soft opening at 12211 Darnestown Road by September 1.
From November 20 through 23, Seneca Creek is open by trolley, on foot or in running shoes. On November 27 it reopens to cars for the rest of the season. The festival page links tickets for all of it.
Winter Lights is one of the city traditions that shapes a Gaithersburg December, and that kind of local calendar is part of what I talk through with clients who are deciding where in Montgomery County they want to settle. If you're thinking about a move within Gaithersburg or nearby, Franco Saladino is happy to help you think it through without any pressure. Let's Connect.
