Must-see Christmas light displays in Ottawa and beyond

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Whether you want to enjoy a drive-through light show, stroll past illuminated trees in a park, see a full-scale sound-and-light show or revel in the grand displays of Christmas Lights Across Canada, you have no shortage of options in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais.

Banishing the early winter darkness and cold with twinkling lights seems to be an innate human impulse that stretches across nations, time zones, latitudes and cultures. And after a year (well, almost two years) like the planet has had, could there be a better time to bask in a little holiday glow?

If you agree, rely on the list below to point you in the right direction. One word to the wise: If tickets are required, buy them quickly in advance online, if possible. These shows often sell out, and prime time slots (say, 7pm on a Saturday) are usually the first to go. Also, check organizers’ websites closely, as some displays will not run in bad weather.

There are so many light shows happening this year that you could probably go to a different one each week between now and Christmas! So pack up the kids, the toques and the flasks of hot chocolate, and come and see the light(s).

Cover photo courtesy of Ottawa Tourism.

Christmas lights in Ottawa

• Magic of Lights Ottawa, Wesley Clover Parks, 401 Corkstown Road, Ottawa (November 19, 2021, to January 8, 2022): This two-kilometre drive-through light show raises funds for CHEO. Ticket prices per standard vehicle range from $20 to $40, depending when you buy them and what night you choose to go. (Hint: You’ll save $5 per vehicle by purchasing your tickets online.)
• Vintage Village of Lights, Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, 2540 Old Montreal Road, Ottawa (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, December 3 to 19, 2021): From 3pm to 9:30pm (last admission at 8pm), the village’s 1920s and 1930s buildings will be lit up with more than 30,000 lights, as a soundtrack of tunes from the interwar years plays. You can see the vintage printing press in operation, watch for Santa and bring home a cookie-making kit. You’ll need to buy timed tickets in advance; the cost is $25 per group of up to six people (the group must include at least one adult).

• Christmas Lights Across Canada, Parliament Hill and elsewhere, Ottawa-Gatineau (December 8, 2021, to January 7, 2022): As the name implies, this is a nationwide event, looping in provincial legislatures and other public buildings. For Ottawans, though, the focal point is usually Parliament Hill, where a 15-minute sound-and-light show will be projected on the Centre Block. (The multimedia show runs nightly from 5:30pm to 11pm, and until midnight on New Year’s Eve.) Major roads and landmarks throughout downtown Ottawa and Gatineau are also lit with bulbs and floodlights during Christmas Lights Across Canada. No tickets are required for this free event.
• A Country Christmas, Saunders Farm, 7893 Bleeks Road, Munster: Along with a wide range of daytime and evening activities—Christmas tree sales, a holiday market, snow mazes and more—Saunders has added a new evening attraction. The Holiday Light and Sound Drive-Through Show takes you past illuminated displays spread across farm and forest. The fee is $35 per vehicle (plus a $2.99 booking fee), and you must purchase tickets online in advance.

• Taffy Lane, Orleans: Residents of this small residential street in Orleans, just north of the Orleans Boulevard overpass over Highway 174, go all out with their home Christmas lights every year. I mean, all out. You’re likely to see giant inflatable snowmen, rooftop sleighs, lights synced to music—it’s like a do-it-yourself Christmas theme park. (The video above gives you a taste.) Parking is limited and drive-through traffic just about impossible unless you live there, so I’d advise coming early, parking a few streets away and walking over. Weekends are nuts, so a weeknight might be a better bet.
• Turcotte home, Stittsville: Last year, the Turcottes decorated their home like the one in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and raised $50,000 for the Stittsville Food Bank. This year, the Griswolds are out and the McAllisters are in, as the house pays homage to the holiday classic Home Alone—complete with replicas of the bandits’ van and the pizza delivery car. The family hopes to raise $100,000 for mental health services at CHEO. Their home is at 18 Cypress Gardens in Stittsville.

Holiday light displays elsewhere in Eastern Ontario

• Celebration of Lights, Centennial Park, Smiths Falls (November 29, 2021, until January 7, 2022): Trees in the downtown park will be illuminated nightly for pedestrians to enjoy. No tickets are required for the free display.

• River of Lights, Blockhouse Island Parkway (Market Street West at Water Street), Brockville (November 27, 2021, to January 2, 2022): This synchronized sound-and-light show on the shore of the St. Lawrence River features light displays flashing and changing in time to music you play through your car radio. You can also pre-order meals and snacks from local restaurants to enjoy in your vehicle as you watch the 50-minute show. The full show runs on a loop from 6pm to 10pm nightly; you can also just enjoy the illumination (with no music or flashing lights) from 5pm to 6pm, or 10pm to 11pm. Free, and no tickets are required.
• Alight at Night Festival, Upper Canada Village, 13740 County Road 2, Morrisburg (select evenings from November 26, 2021, to January 1, 2022: The historical village’s homes, shops, church, fences and trees adorned with roughly one million lights, and seasonal music plays. On the nights it runs, it’s open from 5pm to 9pm. You’ll need to buy timed tickets online in advance; the cost per person is $15 plus HST (children four and under are admitted free).

• Holiday Sparkle, Lamoureux Park, Cornwall (Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 5pm to 10pm, December 9 to 18, 2021): As well as meandering through the walk-through Christmas light display, you can enjoy hot chocolate, a photo booth, music, movies and, on Fridays and Saturdays, a holiday market. You can even reserve a decorated dome where you can warm up! Tickets are available online and are pay what you can, with proceeds going to the experienCity Project, the United Way and the Raisin Region Conservation Area. The organizers are also collecting non-perishable food items for the Agape Centre.
• Clow’s Christmas Trail, Halleck Road, Brockville (selected nights, December 3 to 28): On this decorated, 1.5km illuminated walking trail, you can get some exercise and fresh air along with lots of Christmas spirit! Tickets, available online, are $10 for adults and $5 for kids aged 3 to 10; children under 3 are admitted free.
• Coleman home, Hallville: Every year, homeowner Darrin Coleman adds a little bit more to his holiday yard display. In 2021, he’s gone all out, with a 14-foot-high Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer pulling a similarly large sleigh.

Christmas light shows in Gatineau and the Outaouais

• Festival of Lights, Chutes Coulonge Park, 100 Promenade Du-Parc-des-Chutes, Mansfield-et-Pontefract (Fridays and Saturdays, November 27 to December 18, plus December 27 and 28, 2021): Walk along an illuminated trail to admire a thundering waterfall lit with coloured spotlights at this adventure park in the Pontiac region of the Outaouais. The falls are lit up from 6pm to 10pm on festival nights. Admission is $10 per adult, $6 per child/senior, and $30 per family of two adults and two kids. (Note: Ignore the “closed for the season” notice at the top of the park’s website; keep scrolling down for details about the Festival of Lights.)

Looking for more ideas for things to see and do in our region? Subscribe to my free newsletter or pick up a copy of my 2021 guidebook, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide (the link to the book is an affiliate link).

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.