Ahwatukee Foothills Festival of Lights
Mark your calendars: The 15th Annual Festival of Lights kick-off party is fast approaching. The event will take place Saturday, Nov. 27, and will host carnival rides, community entertainment, a beer garden, a marketplace street fair and the Harley parade. The Harley parade, which starts up at 6 p.m., features more than 100 riders from the local Harley-Davidson club. Riders will steer their hogs through the hills and into the park, igniting the million white lights along Chandler Boulevard. Lights will remain lighted from Thanksgiving until the New Year. This event is free to the public. http://folaz.org/.
Lighting of America’s Tallest Christmas Tree
Head out to the Outlets at Anthem on Nov. 20 to see the lighting of America’s tallest fresh-cut Christmas tree. Standing 110 feet above the ground, the white fir is decorated with 50,000 lights, more than 3,000 ornaments and bows and a 3-foot tall star. Santa Claus is slated to come in from the North Pole to lead the count down and flip on the tree’s switch. Notre Dame Preparatory’s Saints Alive choir and local performing artist, Rachael Calvis, will provide entertainment for the event. This is free to the public and will start at 5 p.m. Stores in the surrounding area will be offering special discounts and deals. www.outletsanthem.com.
Las Noches De Las Luminaries
Las Noches De Las Luminaries at Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden gives you a romantic edge to holiday bliss. Each night of Luminaries, the Garden comes to life with a soft glow from more than 8,000 hand-lit luminaria bags. Enjoy a hot cup of cider on your stroll and listen to the soft hymns of Dickens Carolers as well as the sounds of hand bells. This year marks the 33rd year of the event. Tickets are $25. Las Noches De Las Luminaries takes place Dec. 9-30, 5:30-9:30 p.m. www.dbg.org.
ZooLights
Spend some quality time with the critters at the Phoenix Zoo. Sponsored by SRP and powered by Earth Wise Energy, the wildlife at the Phoenix Zoo presents the largest holiday light display in Arizona. Instillation, which begins in late August, took 12 weeks to complete and features more than 3.5 million lights. Lighting includes: rope lights, LED lights, light strands, black light, fiber optics, lasers, gobos, strobes, lights programmed to music and net lighting in trees and shrubbery. More than 270,000 guests come out each year to see the eye-popping light presentations, as well as the polar slide, wagon rides and camel rides. The event runs Nov. 25 through Jan. 9, 6-10 p.m. Tickets are $12. www.phoenixzoo.org.
