Everyone loves to drive around and look at Sioux Falls Christmas lights! It's a beautiful tradition that many families enjoy each year! Piling in the car, getting lost, listening to Christmas music proves a memorable time for most!
đźDownload the Free Map for the Best [42] Sioux Falls Christmas Light Displays!
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đSioux Falls Parade of Lights
is one of my favorite family traditions at Christmas. There's something magical about the bright lights and cheer, and seeing to looks of wonder on the faces of small children makes my heart grow three sizes. Whether you've been attending the parade for years, or this is your first time, this post-Thanksgiving event is one to put on your calendar. You can download your map here. The parade begins at 7:30 pm on Friday, November 24, and lasts until 9 pm. Bundle up and come out as the Sioux Falls Parade of Lights officially kicks off the Sioux Falls Holiday season. The route travels from historic Phillips Avenue and caravans all the way from 13th Street to 5th Street. Be prepared for a dazzling display of floats, lights, and fun seasonal characters. Enjoy an after party (and warm up!) at the Holiday Inn City Center with "Best of Parade" awards, fun with Santa, and tasty refreshments. If the Parade of Lights isn't enough for you, then check out the Sioux Falls Christmas Lights and Lanes.
đSioux Falls Christmas Lights and Lanes
Featuring some of the most extensive Christmas home decorations in the area, this map directs you to the best places to drive around and look at lights in area neighborhoods. Bundle up the kids, put some hot chocolate in a thermos, and tune the radio to 101.9 KELO-FM for non-stop Christmas music, and hit the road. Leave the iPhones and tablets at home â you can't fully enjoy the light spectacles with a carful of glowing screens and enjoy the company you're with. It's Christmas, and the best time for families to come together.
Lights and Lanes has become a unique Sioux Falls tradition. While many homes across the country deck their walls with bright Santas, sleighs, and even a Clark Griswold Christmas Vacation extravaganza here and there, Sioux Falls homeowners in several neighborhoods come together to create different themes of dÊcor. There's Holly Bear Lane, off South Holly street, and Elf Lane near Tuscany Court. Candy Cane Lane was the fist of the "Lanes" to be established, with a tradition that dates back to the 1960's.
Make an event out of driving around to look at Christmas lights in style with a limo or party bus from Elite Limousine. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy the magic and wonder of seeing your neighborhood transformed into a Winter Wonderland. Whether it's just your family or part of a company Christmas party excursion, we do the driving so you can relax and enjoy the seasonal spectacle. Check out a map of the best places to see decorated homes, or allow our driver to make a recommendation. Enjoy feeling like a kid again with your crew and have fun in a stretch hummer with a wet bar and plush, comfortable seating.
âŞThe Best Nativity Displays
We all know the reason for the season. For the best Nativity displays, visit the Living Nativity (Dec. 4th & 5th) at Southern Hills Methodist, 400 E 49th St, from 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm. The Live Nativity at Canton Lutheran Church, East 2nd St in Canton, December 12th - 13th, at 5:30 pm, 6:00 pm, and 6:30 pm. It's a little bit of a drive, but well worth it. The Southern Hills Methodist Church has been bringing the Nativity to life for 18 years and is one of the most popular Christmastime events for many families. Located at 3400 E. 49th in Sioux Falls, the Live Nativity is presented for one night only this year: Friday, December 1 from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Enjoy listening to the church choir singing Christmas carols while you sit hot chocolate or warm apple cider and enjoy tasty fresh Christmas cookies. Bring your friends and family to experience the sights and experiences of the First Christmas. Admission to the nativity is free, but Southern Hills will be collecting toiletry donations for the Kidz Count Outreach program. Best items are wrapped toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo an hair care, packaged toilet paper, or bar and liquid soap. One personal Christmas holiday tradition I love is writing letters to Santa. My grandmother would bake sugar cookies, and all of us cousins would frost them. We'd eat the cookies, drink hot chocolate, and write our letters to Santa. One of the best memories I have is bringing those handwritten letters to Santa in person, handing them to a helper Elf, and then sitting on Santa's knee to tell him about the Barbie Dreamhouse (and a pony!) I needed under the tree that year. When it's time to bring your kids to visit Santa this year, there are a lot of places to find him. Visit the First Reformed Church - St Nicholas Day on November 24 to see Santa and have a photo, as well as the Voyage Federal Credit Union on December 8.
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đ Finding Santa
If finding Santa is your thing, consider shopping in Downtown Sioux Falls on Saturday, November 25, for Small Business Saturday. Santa will be out and about, visiting the exclusive boutiques and owner-operated storefronts downtown. You can support your community, find unique and exciting Christmas gifts, as well as snap a selfie with Santa. Look for early bird specials from the downtown retailers, and Saturday only promotions going on all day. Enjoy lunch or dinner â even appetizers and drinks â at one of the many independent restaurants downtown. There's no better way to support your small town community this Christmas season, and the folks downtown encourage you to "shop small." Santa will be in different areas all over downtown, making it a great adventure for children to "hunt" the guy in red. What has 355,926 total LEDs and lights, 271 trees decorated, 273 light poles decorated, and 26.3 miles of light strings? Sioux Falls Christmas Lights? If you answered the Winter Wonderland at Falls Park, you win a plate of sugar cookies. Once you've finished shopping in downtown Sioux Falls on Small Business Saturday, stick around for the Winter Wonderland display. With unique displays, fun characters, and breathtaking lighting, these holiday lights are not to be missed. Join friends, family, and most of the Sioux Falls community for Flipping the Switch on November 17, at 5:30 pm, the lights will be up from November 17 till January 8, 2018. Santa will be in residence for visits and photos, with Mrs. Claus stopping by, as well. Bring your family to tour the best holiday light display in the city.
âDon't Want to Hang Your Own Christmas Lights?
Talking about all the different places I can see Christmas lights has me ready to break out the trees and tinsel. If you are ready to hang colored lights around the outside of your home but don't know where to start, consider hiring a professional. Many landscaping services around town can help hang the strings properly, (even if you want your house visible from space). KB Sprinklers, in particular, has years of experience turning their neighbors' homes into festive winter displays. If you don't have your own exterior lights, or you need more, now is the best time to purchase them. Any big box store will have thousands of strands, from lanterns to LEDs, but if you want a truly magical look, a professional Holiday Decorator will stop traffic. The experts at Christmas DĂŠcor know their Christmas and have just the eye for detail to highlight the best features of your property.
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âď¸Volunteer Opportunity's During the Christmas Season
It's not the season of giving without giving back to our community. This winter, take some time to volunteer with the Salvation Army as a bell ringer, or at the Children's Inn gift wrapping kiosk at the Empire Mall. A unique volunteer opportunity is through Goodwill of The Great Plains shoe gifting for needy children. Volunteers (16 and older) are needed to help make Christmas a special time for the children in our community. We will be fitting over 1300 children with a new pair of shoes from 10 am until 2 pm. Volunteers are needed from 9:30 am to 3 pm. The Toys for Tots program and the Salvation Army Angel Tree are both great ways to bring a little holiday cheer and presents under the tree for area families inned. Finally, Be Free is serving the Feast of Hope, a warm meal for the homeless, on Saturday, December 13th â volunteers are needed to set up, serve and clean up the event. For more details, and other ways that you can make an impact this holiday season, the United Way offers a full list of volunteer needs. It wouldn't be Christmas without a roaring fire and a mug of hot chocolate. In fact, my favorite recipe (with a secret ingredient!) has been passed down for generations, and now my own children make a big batch of the mix. Simply combine 1 cup of white sugar, ½ cup of Hershey's cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, and (the secret) 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. When you're ready to make it, just heat 4 cups of milk on the stove, and when it's hot (not boiling), whisk in ½ of the homemade hot cocoa mix. Add marshmallows, and enjoy. Happy Holidays!
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