17+ (2025) Magical Christmas Lights: Charlotte, NC

Drive Through Christmas Lights in Charlotte, NC

One of the most magical things about the holidays is the twinkly, dazzling lights around the city. These Christmas Light Shows in Charlotte, NC are professional light displays that take that magic to another level! With thousands of LED lights, holiday installations, decorated Christmas trees, and winter wonderland attractions, these drive-through Christmas light displays are an awesome memory maker for your kids.

We love Speedway Christmas.
If you want to know more, check out our Kidding Around Review of Speedway Lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The annual Speedway Christmas at the Charlotte Motor Speedway is a unique experience that your kids will absolutely love! One of the most popular Christmas Lights events in North Carolina, you’ll be blown away by over 5 million synchronized lights as you drive through a 4-mile course. Plus, you get to drive on the iconic race track! There is also a Christmas Village where you can stop and enjoy an illuminated walking trail, photos with Santa, market vendors, food, and smores by the fire.

Take a walk through the 250,000 dazzling lights that adorn Village Park in Kannapolis during their annual Celebration of Lights. Your kids will be bursting with excitement to ride the Winterland Express, a train ride that cruises through the light displays. Your family can also enjoy the carousel, make s’mores, visit with Santa, and enjoy Christmas carols. The light displays will not be open on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, so plan accordingly. 

Read about our visit to Kannapolis Celebration of Lights.
Plus, Village Park is an awesome place to visit any time of year. We absolutely love the beautiful carousel. Don’t miss this one! Here’s our Kidding Around Review of Village Park!

Be sure to check out the tree lighting ceremony on December 1st, in addition to the annual Christmas parade and Yule Log Ceremony on December 11th, 2025. We recommend visiting during the week to avoid long lines and cars because this experience is super popular. Learn more on the Christmas Town USA Website.

You can enjoy a beautiful Christmas display with your coffee or wine on the patio at Rosie’s Coffee and Wine Bar. They will post when their 2025 display is ready! Get a sneak peek in their Instagram post below.

You can take a walk through Truist Field and enjoy over 10,000 lights! They have some pretty epic additions to the lights, including snow tubing, ice skating, visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and lots of beautiful, larger-than-life decorations.

You’ll also want to check out The Market, which has 20 vendors selling everything from donuts to glow toys, perfect for your upcoming gift exchange. Be sure to check the schedule before heading to the field if you plan to see Santa, he’s a busy man this time of year and is only available during specific times.

Belmont Festival of Trees

Stowe Park, Belmont, NC
December 1st, 2025-December 30th, 2025
Admission cost: Free

Enjoy the season with a half-mile walk along a trail that is illuminated with over 1 million lights! The display at Ballantyne’s is unique in that the displays, lights, hundreds of decorated trees, and other installations are so strategically designed that you are truly immersed in the lights.

Plus, there is Christmas music to enjoy, several kid’s activities, performers, food trucks, ice castle, and nightly visits from Santa. New this year is a Winder Wonderland Carnival featuring a ferris wheel, roller coaster, and rapid slide for $20. Ballerinas and oversized snow globes also perform nightly. The trail is stroller-friendly, so you can take your time exploring.

What’s better than mini golf? Um, mini golf with lots of Christmas lights of course! Play through the festive course, complete with glowing pirate ships lit by strands and strands of lights. In years past they’ve had a life-size snow globe photo op, snowfalling, and other activities.

Dazzling Christmas light display AND roller coasters! Count us in. Carowinds is already an epic experience, but each winter they break out thousands of lights for Winterfest. You will also enjoy live holiday performances, ice skating, holiday foods, a parade with decorated floats, and more. 

During this Holiday season, Sea Life in Charlotte-Concord will be covered in more than 30,000 twinkling lights and feature over 20 decorated trees.

There is something special about a garden display adorned with lights, especially with its perfectly curated display! Enjoy the dazzling lights, fountains, a cozy outdoor fire, and food trucks while you walk about the botanical garden. Holiday train rides, visits with Santa, and adult-only holiday cocktails can be enjoyed on select evenings. It is recommended to purchase your tickets online.

Christmas lights with an extraordinary history, hand-made by the Costner family, and taken over by Kings Mountain after their passing, keep the extravagant Christmas spirit living on. Bring the family and walk through this amazing display. Additional special events like a parade, festival, living nativity, visits with Santa, hay rides, and carriage rides are set to spread more holiday cheer on December 6, 13th, and 20th.

Shadrack’s Christmas Wonderland and Winterfest Village  are very popular options in Tryon, NC, not too far from the Upstate. The drive-thru light experience at the Tryon Equestrian International Center runs nightly from November 14th, 2025 – January 4th, 2026. New this year, you can experience the lights walking through on foot as well. The Winterfest Village is open weekends beginning November 28th at 5pm with activities like bounce houses, carriage rides, petting zoos, shops, and visits with Santa.

Great Neighborhoods to See Christmas Lights in Charlotte

Want something different?
We arranged some of the best neighborhoods and decked out homes into a holiday driving route with 4 different trails to choose from. They are short and sweet, and you’ll have the kids home by bedtime. Here they are: Kidding Around’s Charlotte Holiday Lights Driving Routes

If you are looking for a way to see some lights on an evening drive with the kids without having to pay any money, a Christmas lights drive through these Charlotte area neighborhoods will not disappoint. These festive neighborhoods gather each year to decorate their streets to spread the magic of the Christmas season.