12 Holiday Light Displays That Dazzle

Whether you’re looking for something close to home or a quick road trip, don’t miss the glow and glory of these spectacles.
Cheryl De Leon,
2 Holiday Lights

You may not be done admiring the array of Christmas lights displayed on your home, but trust us, there are plenty of other houses around town that are also worth seeing. Decorations abound as Morris and Essex residents get creative with everything from colored bulbs and bright white LEDs to hologram projectors and larger-than-life inflatables.

So, bundle up the kids, grab some hot chocolate to go and get ready for the show. Take a slow drive through these neighborhoods where the lights are bright and the holiday spirit lives.

  • Benjamin Road, Chester. Check out the flashing lights and synchronized music at 24 Benjamin Rd., known as Lights on Benjamin.
  • Robert Harp Drive, Livingston. For more than 50 years, the Camuso Family Holiday Display has been the holiday lights destination. The walk-through display featuring hundreds of animated figures and even more decorations and lights. Donations can be made for The Burn Center at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center.
  • Indian Falls Road, Mine Hill. The display at 3 Indian Falls Rd., known as Morris Holiday Lights, has nearly 40,000 lights that are programmed to holiday music.
  • Sparrow Court, Oak Ridge. Among other festive homes, an organized display of animated lights adorns the property at 1 Sparrow Ct.
  • Fleetwood Drive, Rockaway. The home at 32 Fleetwood Dr. has nearly 19,000 lights synchronized to music. Visitors of Fleetwood Lights are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, which will be donated to the Rockaway Food Closet.
  • Monroe Place, Rockaway. For the fifth year in a row, Monroe Lights at 20 Monroe Pl. will be coordinated to music. The sequencing and props were created by the homeowners’ 16-year-old. Visitors are asked to donate to local resident Susan Redwood, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukoemia.
  • Turtle Back Zoo, West Orange. The annual Holiday Lights Spectacular is open from 5 to 9 p.m. through Jan. 3. Admission is free, and visitors are asked to donate a non-perishable food item, a new unwrapped toy or a new or gently used winter coat.

Holidays on the road

Want to make a road trip out of your light viewing excursion? Check out these shows:

  • East Brunswick’s Winter WonderLights. The largest animated light display in the Garden State, this show has been a tradition for more than two decades. Drive through 2 million sparkling lights that form tunnels, candy canes and your favorite holiday characters.
  • Orchard of Lights. At Demarest Farms in Hillsdale, you can drive through 32 acres of holiday lights set to festive music from your radio. Don’t forget to grab some cocoa and see Santa before you leave!
  • PNC Bank Arts Center’s Magic of Lights. Take exit 116 on the Garden State Parkway to Holmdel and line up for this dazzling display of LED lights, digital animations, holiday scenes and characters. The drive-through show takes cars around the concert venue’s campus.
  • The New York Botanical Gardens’ Holiday Train Show. You can wander through the indoor Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and see plant-based replicas of famed local architecture, creating a miniature cityscape where model trains and trolleys chug merrily along.
  • The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights. See one of the nation’s most celebrated zoos transformed. Millions of twinkling lights invite you and your family to explore paths of life-sized animal lanterns, plus costumed performers and more.

Share your favorite holiday decorations with us on Instagram @morrisandessexmag.

 

Categories: Morris/Essex Health & Life