Oh, what fun it is to ride through Zilker’s Drive-Thru Trail of Lights. 

Running from Nov. 28 through Jan. 3, this COVID-safe holiday light show gives Austin the chance to continue a cherished tradition while remaining safe and socially-distanced. Just reserve your tickets online, arrive at the park, and watch as the downtown scene is transformed into a world of twinkling magic. 

With over 2 million lights on display, the drive-through experience has attractions ranging in all sorts and sizes — from Charlie Brown to choo-choo trains, Homer Simpson to Hanukkah dreidels — all set against the backdrop of downtown Austin’s glittering skyline. Each attraction contributes a different detail to the winter wonderland, and as visitors peer through windows at each new sight, the synched radio station spills sweet holiday tunes into their cars (including, among other classics, a Miss Piggy rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas), ensuring that the experience is a not-so-silent night. 

Upon arrival, visitors check in with their tickets and are guided to a brief line before entry. Here, a drive-in-movie-style screen features readings of children’s books, holiday music, and festive animations, all against the lit skyline of the city. This feature, along with other screens featuring holiday films throughout the trail, to ensure that no time is spent bah humbug-ing. 

The event, too, takes many precautions in ensuring a safe and traditional experience despite this not-so-traditional holiday season. 

Though the typical Trail of Lights experience includes a walk-through of the displays, the show this year is exclusively a drive-through experience. Masks are required upon arrival for both visitors and volunteers, and windows of cars must remain up and closed at all times. Visitors must also remain completely in their car for the duration of the show. These requirements allow for a more personal experience while driving through the event as well as limiting risks regarding coronavirus while maintaining the essence of the tradition.

To further limit interactions, passes can be purchased prior to visitor’s arrival online at the Austin Trail of Lights website, with the option of either general admission ($25 – $35 per vehicle) or dash passes ($60 per vehicle), which begins at an earlier time and includes a handful of holiday treats. 

Regardless of pass type, the experience is one of enchantment: a half-hour in a different world from our own — a world that is both merry and bright.

Perhaps the most magical of Zilker’s holiday experience, visitors drive through several sparkling tunnels, covered entirely by lights of all colors. There is something particularly special about these moments. 

As familiar melodies float through the air and the entire world is immersed in the twinkling colors of the Christmas lights, there comes a sense of comfort, a sense of appreciation. We are reminded once again that, despite different circumstances this holiday season, there isn’t just light at the end of the tunnel: there is light all throughout it, too.

A WARM WINTER WELCOME: The glow of Zilker Park’s annual light show illuminates the entrance to the trail as visitors begin to file in. Although the Trail of Lights is an exclusively drive-through event this holiday season, the tradition of the downtown, twinkling show remains alive, even with COVID precautions.

BOOKS ON THE BIG SCREEN: As visitors wait to enter the trail, a drive-in-movie-style screen looms above the entrance gate and against the lit city skyline, ensuring that no time is spent bah humbug-ing, even while waiting in line. Per instructions below the screen, visitors dial into a radio station synched with the projection to hear narration of children’s books, holiday music and festive animations. After a brief wait, the trail gates are opened and the ride begins.

A BLAZING TRAIL: A line of visitors file into the Trail of Lights entrance, with twinkling trees filling the sky and over a dozen attractions ahead of them. As they pass beneath the archway, visitors immediately drive through a tunnel completely covered in sparkling blue lights.

TUNNEL VISION: Beneath the entrance tunnel, visitors are surrounded completely by the glow of golden and blue lights. The tunnel acts almost as a portal into another world, a world that is sparkling and serene.

HOLIDAY SPIRIT IS IN THE BAG: Texas grocery store mascot H-E-Buddy and his reindeer friend joyfully pay a visit to those driving through the trail near the beginning of the show. Buddy, along with other animated characters throughout the event, allows visitors to recognize a familiar face in the trail as they peer out their windows at the lights.

A FESTIVE FAIRYTALE: Near the start of the trail, Cinderella’s carriage and a larger-than-life-lit teddy bear sit for visitors to admire through their car windows. The trees, too, provide a glow against the dark Austin sky that add to the warmth and magic of the trail.

SEASON’S GREETINGS: Ho-ho-who could it be but Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus at the 2020-2021 Trail of Lights. In what visitors experience as looking into a snow globe, the Christmas couple wave at visitors passing through the trail.

LIGHT OFF THE BAT: Capturing one of Austin’s iconic locations, a light tunnel with illuminated bats welcomes visitors passing through the trail, with countless Christmas trees on both sides. At this point in the show, over half of the attractions have passed by, and the music from the trail’s radio station spills soft, familiar Christmas tunes into visitors’ vehicles.

MERRY AND BRIGHT: With almost the entire trail complete, visitors witness the blurred glow of the Christmas lights through their car windows. The music, too, begins to wind down, and visitors approach the final attraction of the night: the illuminated exit tunnel.

OUT LIKE A LIGHT: Visitors’ cars exit the trail through a final lit tunnel, finished with this year’s Trail of Lights drive-through, COVID-safe experience. The attraction serves as a reminder that, despite different circumstances this holiday season, there isn’t just light at the end of the tunnel: there is light all throughout it, too.