11 Enchanting Displays of Christmas Lights in Athens, GA for 2024

Our family loves to find festive things to do in the month of December and the Christmas lights in Athens, GA are always top on our list. There are enough displays that we can usually space them out and see 2-3 per week, which our kids love!

Christmas in Athens is magical and there are enough Christmas light displays in Athens to last the whole season. As an added bonus, almost all of these are free Christmas light displays!

Christmas Lights in Athens, GA for the whole family

Christmas lights in Athens offer something for everyone! There are local home owners who have light shows set to music, Botanical Garden Winter Wonderlights, inflatable Christmas characters at local zoos, and more.

Whether you want to walk around outside or watch a show from inside your car, these Christmas lights offer something for every family!

❄ State Botanical Gardens – Winter Wonderlights (Our FAVORITE Christmas lights in Athens!)

The Winter Wonderlights display at the State Botanical Gardens in Athens was brand new in 2021 and each year they add something new.

Before you head out, here are a few things you should know:

–Parking is actually at the University of Georgia Softball fields right down the street. Once parked, a UGA bus will shuttle you over to the Gardens and drop you off at the entrance to the lights. Parking at the actual Botanical Gardens is extremely limited and was reserved for handicap/VIP only (advance paid parking).

–These time slots book pretty far in advance (3-4 weeks in some cases) and they do sell out!

–This is a walking ONLY experience. There is no driving option for the Athens botanical gardens Christmas lights. Bring your walking shoes!

Winter Wonderlights includes hundreds of lit artificial Christmas trees, hundreds of real trees wrapped in lights, tunnels, animals, and even a snack bar with hot chocolate and cookies. The Children’s Garden is also decorated which makes an already whimsical place even more fun!

Winter Wonderlights at the Botanical Gardens generally kicks off the week of Thanksgiving and runs from 5:30-9:00 each night. The lights will be available for select nights in November and every Wednesday-Sunday throughout December until the week before Christmas.

At that time, they are open every night leading up to Christmas Eve. They are closed for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will reopen for the week of New Year’s. These are our favorite Athens Christmas lights!

For more info on the Botanical Gardens in Athens and maps of the area, check out our post here.

Address: Parking address – 2330 S. Milledge Ave. Athens, Ga. 30605 [Do not go to the gardens! Park here and take the shuttle.]

Cost: $15 for ages 4 and up //children 3 and under are free

Website: For more information, visit their website!

❄ Bear Hollow’s Deck the Hollow

We have posted about Bear Hollow in a few different posts because it is just such an awesome little place! Bear Hollow in Athens has a Christmas light display called “Deck the Hollow” where they decorate the zoo with a ton of twinkling lights and inflatable Christmas characters like the Grinch, Santa, Paw Patrol pups, Charlie Brown, and more!

If you are in Athens during the day, you can walk through and experience Bear Hollow Christmas without the lights on. It is really just as much for the kids during daytime hours because they can see/interact with all of the inflatables (that they keep inflated during daytime hours in addition to the nighttime event).

The zoo typically sets up all Christmas inflatables during the first week of December and leaves them up all throughout the month.

These are our favorite free Christmas lights in Athens and they are so kid-friendly!

For more information on Bear Hollow and the types of animals you might encounter, check out our post here.

Address: 293 Gran Ellen Dr, Athens, GA 30606

Cost: $5 per person // Children 2 and under are free.

Website: Check their facebook page for more updates (specifically, watch for “Deck the Hollow” updates!)

❄ Athens’ Electrical Elf

Athens Electrical Elf is a homemade display of Christmas lights in Athens that starts up the Sunday after Thanksgiving and runs every night through New Year’s Day. Johnathan Ruhlen is the Athens Electrical Elf (and an actual electrician) started working on his lights display in 2017.

This homemade display runs off of a radio station identified outside the house. After you park on the street outside of the home, you tune your car radio to the station and listen to the pre-programmed song selection. The light show is in sync to the songs chosen!

We typically show up right at 6pm and settle in with our kiddos and some snacks to watch an hour or so. My kids are still young so we don’t make it to the end of the show (it runs from 6pm-10pm nightly) but what we have seen is so cool!

I highly recommend bringing some popcorn, chex mix, christmas cookies, or hot cocoa to enjoy while you watch the show from your car. Bonus points if you are a UGA football fan because you will definitely hear the fight song!

Address: 265 River Bottom Road, Athens, GA 30606

Cost: Free!

Website: Check out the Athens Electrical Elf Instagram for updates!

❄ Cole Springs Lights

Update: As of the 2023 season, the amazing tiny houses at Cole Springs have relocated to Christmas on Lunsford Farms!

The Cole Springs Lights in Athens, GA are a local legend! This display is right outside of the Athens city limits in Oconee County. One man has hand-built an entire Christmas village for all of his local neighbors to enjoy.

How cool is that!?! He does have a donation box on site that I would strongly encourage you to throw a few dollars into. I cannot imagine what his electricity bill is in December!

Throughout this family’s front yard, there are about 25 different displays that were each handbuilt and painted. Each display has a Character theme/Christmas theme and encourages interaction from the kids.

The kids are allowed to walk inside each one and play with the themed toys inside! Themes include the Nativity, Star Wars, Charlie Brown, Disney/Pixar characters, monster trucks, and more!

Address: 1360 Cole Springs Rd, Bishop GA 30621

Cost: Free to enter! Park on the road up against the property. Donations are encouraged to cover electricity costs and are accepted through donation boxes located throughout the display.

Website: No website. Locally owned and operated!

❄ Downtown Athens, Athens Christmas Tree, & Downtown Parade of Lights

Downtown Athens does not have its own “Christmas light show” per se, but they decorate their storefronts and trees with a quaint display of lights that makes for some amazing pictures. We take our kids every year just to walk the streets after dark (usually around 6:30pm) and enjoy all of the lights that are set up downtown.

[ If you are looking for the Athens Christmas parade, then keep reading! ]

The Downtown Parade of Lights is at the top of the list of best Christmas lights in Athens, GA. The parade happens on the first Thursday of December every year and is a rain or shine event. You can expect to see all of the typical Christmas parade things like floats, marching bands. dancers. and, of course, lights.

It is free to watch and you can find a parade route map here. The downtown parade of lights in Athens is not one to miss!

In addition to the parade of lights, you can also check out the official Athens Christmas tree lighting ceremony that takes place at City Hall. Santa Claus himself lights the tree each year. You can see an awesome Christmas parade and tree lighting all within an hour of each other in the same awesome downtown spot.

For more information on the Athens GA Christmas parade (2022) check out their website here.

❄ CFA on Atlanta Highway

This sounds silly but the Atlanta Highway Chick-Fil-A has one of the most impressive displays of Christmas lights in the area. People literally drive from all over northeast Georgia to come eat dinner under these lights! The owner has officially named it “Lights of Athens” and he’s not wrong. Their last count was over 500,000 lights!

They started this tradition back in 2015 and are already getting their lights set up for this year as we…type (it’s October, guys)! There were very few lights the first year they decorated but it has grown every year since then to become the impressive “Lights of Athens” display that it is now.

This Atlanta Highway CFA has created a wall to wall display of lights that includes an amazing canopy over the entire parking lot. Every bush, tree, railing, and brick is covered in lights. It is absolutely worth checking out!

We love it so much that we order our CFA in the drive through and then park to eat it under the lights. We call it our Christmas picnic and my kiddos love it! Even if you do not eat CFA, you should still drive by to see the lights. It’s free to enjoy from the road or parking lot and it truly feels a little magical.

Address: 3637 Atlanta Hwy, Athens, GA 30606

❄ Nations Church : Light the Night

Nations Church offers a great, interactive display of Christmas Lights in Athens. Their light show, called “Light the Night,” runs the first two weekends of December.

This is an outdoor display that involves walking around so know that head of time as you plan your visit. They have decorated the entire church campus and the lights are programmed to certain Christmas tunes.

In addition to the actual light show, there are a ton of cool booths with hands-on activities! They have International Booths to learn about Christmas around the world, an ornament making booth, interactive light stations, a hot cocoa booth, and s’mores around a fire!

This is a free event!

Address: 8780 Macon Hwy, Athens, GA 30606

Cost: Free!!

Website: Check out their website for updates!

❄ Winterville Arts Council Christmas Lights Contest

The Winterville Arts Council Christmas lights contest has been running for four years now and features over 20 homes and businesses that have decorated for Christmas with a dazzling lights display. When we visited these lights a few years ago, we turned on some Christmas music in the car, packed a holiday snack, and drove around looking at all of the lights. Our toddlers loved it!

The Winterville Arts Council provides a printable/downloadable map and voting form to accompany you on your tour of Christmas lights. The map looks something like this:

Their Facebook page is the best place to go for an updated map. They usually post the latest map the first week of December!

This event is obviously free but a great way to see some really unique Christmas light displays. They typically have multiple categories to vote in, including Griswold/Tacky, Traditional, Religious, and a business category.

We even print out maps for our kids to hold while we drive so they can trace our route. At the end, they circle their favorite and that’s how we vote.

Address: Various displays. See map!

Cost: Free!

Website: Check out their Facebook page closer to December for an updated map.

❄ Christmas on Dixie (Madison)

Christmas on Dixie is another local farm that sets up a really cool Christmas light display just because they can. They are located in Madison, about 30 minutes south of Athens.

Every year, they start their light display on Thanksgiving night and run all the way through Christmas Day. They are open Thursdays & Sundays from 5:30-8:00 and Fridays & Saturdays from 5:30-10.

So, what can you expect? Well, an awesome Christmas display! This is a walk-through experience where you park, get out, and walk around the farm to experience all of the fun displays they have set up. There are inflatable Christmas characters, Christmas trees, and other fun light displays. Oh, and it’s free!

One big bonus: they sell legendary brunswick stew for $10/quart. I would highly recommend taking 1 (or 5) home!

Address: 1051 Wilson Rd, Madison, GA 30650

Cost: Free

Website: Check out their Facebook page here.

❄ Christmas at Lunsford Farm

UPDATE: New for 2023 – the tiny houses from Cols Springs road!

If you are willing to drive a few minutes outside of Athens, I would highly recommend Christmas at Lunsford Farm! Lunsford Farm is an actual working farm that sets up an amazing walk-through display of Christmas lights beginning the week of Thanksgiving and running through the end of December.

Depending on which part of Athens you come from, it is about 30-45 minutes away so keep that in mind as you plan your trip. They open at 6pm every evening and stay open until 9pm on weeknights, or 10pm on weekend nights.

It is free to enjoy, although they do accept donations!

Pro tip: they are PACKED the week of Christmas. If you want to be able to slowly walk through and enjoy it, I would highly suggest making the trip out there during the first two weeks that they are open. When you get to the farm, they have designated parking fields but you can also park along the road. Keep in mind: the Lunsford family does live here and operate a farm here.

Address: 2730 Sand Hill Rd, Bowman, GA 30624

Cost: Free! Donations are accepted but never expected.

Website: Check out their Facebook page here for updated information.

❄ Elder Mill Covered Bridge

The Elder Mill Covered Bridge Christmas lights technically do not qualify for Christmas lights in Athens because they, well, aren’t. However, the bridge is a short 20 minutes drive outside of Athens and gets decorated by a local Boy Scout Troop every year. It is definitely worth the drive!

The Elder Mill Covered Bridge is one of only 13 covered bridges in the state of Georgia and makes for a great photo opportunity, whether decorated or not. We have had family pictures taken here because the surrounding area is gorgeous.

In December, you can walk through the bridge and see all of the Christmas lights that are hanging above you. It is a really neat experience!

Address: 1441 Elder Mill Rd #1434, Watkinsville, GA 30677

Cost: Free!

Website: Check out their website here.

FAQs

Where is the best Christmas light show in Georgia?

This totally depends on what you’re looking for in a Christmas lights show. I personally think the Christmas lights in Athens GA are some of the best. If you want to be able to get out and walk around then I would recommend the Athens Botanical Gardens Christmas lights.

If you do not want to spend money on a walk through light show then one of the farms might better suit you. Sitting in your car to watch the lights dance might be more your speed and, if so, I would start with Athens Electrical Elf. So many choices!

What is there to do in Athens at Christmas?

There are obviously a ton of Christmas lights in Athens GA. In addition, there are also Christmas shows and experiences that you can also check out.

One of our favorite experiences is Journey Through Bethlehem, a live nativity with animals and live music. Check it out on Facebook (a Facebook event is created each year around Thanksgiving).

The Classic Center in downtown Athens hosts a variety of Christmas shows and concerts. Local libraries in the Athens and Oconee areas also host some great Christmas story times and craft times!

What time is the Christmas parade in Athens Georgia?

See our section above titled “Downtown Parade of Lights” for all the details on the Christmas parade in Athens.

What do I need to bring?

Before you head out, grab one of these awesome companions to help make your walk through a winter wonderland more enjoyable! We have personally owned each of these at different phases of life. We always bring a wagon!