{GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED}🌟 Route One Fun’s got five car passes to give away to the enchanting Festival of Lights at Watkins Regional Park in Upper Marlboro, Maryland! Five lucky Route One Fun readers will each win a car pass to this fun festival! See below for instruction on how to enter for your chance to win!👏 Winner will be announced on Monday, December 10th. Good luck!
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| Scene from the Emerald City |
Festival of Lights at Watkins Regional Park
With over 2.5 million twinkling lights illuminating the night with festive themes like the Wizard of Oz’s Emerald City (💓), this drive-through festival is a delightful way to enjoy this holiday season – all within the warmth as your own car!
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| Here we go! 2018 Festival of Lights! |
Open nightly from now through Tuesday, January 1, 2019 (5-9:30pm), you’ll have the chance to check out a Bowling Snowman, Basketball Santa, Penguins Jumping Rope, Flying Candy Canes, Cartwheeling Elf & more!
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| Santa Shootin’ Some Hoops! |
With so many colorful lights, all enjoyed within the warmth & comfort of our own car, it’s enough to put us all in a jolly mood! Speaking of good moods, enter now for your chance to win one of three free car passes to this awesomely local event!
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| The Stars & Stripes at the Festival of Lights |
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| Is that Glinda the Good Witch flying up there? 😉 |
Travel Tips When Visting Festival of Lights
- Eat before you go: There are not a ton of places to eat near Watkins Regional Park, though we did spot a Chipotle at Watkins Park Plaza, and we have taken the kids to the nearby McDonalds on Central Ave as it has a playground / place space inside where they have had fun.
- Empty your tanks before you enter: While the drive itself is only about 30 minute drive, give or take, you cannot stop the car to jump out and find a bathroom, so plan accordingly.
- Plan to Arrive between 6:15 & 7pm. We’ve been a couple of times now and have found that arriving too close to 5:30pm (opening time) may have you waiting a bit for to get into the Festival whereas our 6:15/20pm arrivals find us with minimal wait time (say 5-10 minutes or so).
- Bring a donation of canned food: Please bring canned goods for donations to local food banks this holiday season (they will collect your donation as you pay/enter the park).
- Enjoy Yourself…Don’t Go Crazy with the Camera: Trying to capture the memories on camera while in a moving car doesn’t really make for totally awesome photos (clearly speaking from experience 😑).
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| A crab and her candy cane. |
Admission & Information for Festival of Lights at Watkins Regional Park
Car or Van: $10
Mini-Bus or Limo: $20
Bus: $30
Watkins Regional Park is located at 301 Watkins Park Drive, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774.
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| Until next year! |
Many thanks to M-NCPPC Prince George’s County Department of Park and Recreation for offering these passes to five lucky Route One Fun readers!
So excited to go! Thank you!!!!!!
I've been meaning to take my boys – I think they would love this! Thanks for offering this giveaway!
Going to Watkins Park is a great way to celebrate the holidays. It's a great tradition for our family.
I went one year on Christmas, so awesome.
My kids adore this light show! Thanks for offering this. 🙂
The question isn’t when to go but how many times! Our kids love this tradition! We pack popcorn and candy for the car and play Christmas music!
We enjoy visiting the Watkins Park lights every year as a family tradition :-).
We tried to go last year and the line was super long. I really hope I can take my girls this year!
Thank you for offering this!
Every year we say we will go and it gets away from us. We really want to go this year.
Thanks for posting! This is a family tradition for us. We like to pack cookies and milk in the car to eat while we drive. The kids also wear their pajamas.
We’ve been meaning to get there, so thanks for the reminder (and opportunity). Nothing like the wonder of children looking at lights during the holiday season.
I get so many ideas of things to do, places to go from you. I haven't been on this light show for many many years. Time to go!
Love this event! We go every year, and a bonus that it's in our county!
The decorations and the lights are definitely a favorite! I love night time in the house with the Christmas tree lights on. 🙂
model train shows
Thanks for offering this!
Can't wait to see all 2.5 MILLION of 'em!! <3
I was just talking about this with my husband the other night. We went last year but of course our kids fell asleep before we got there and didn’t want to wake up lol.
I hope to go this year! I think my kids are the perfect ages to really enjoy this 🙂