El Paso Christmas Lights 2024-2025

When nights get dark and chilly, holiday lights bring Christmas cheer to El Paso. Beautiful lights can be seen at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Lavishly decorated trees line the alleys, while the whole campus is shimmering with vibrant colors. Eastridge Neighborhood on El Pasos's East Side is one of the best decorated residential areas in the city during the holidays. Friendly neighborhood competitions turn some homes and yards into real works of art. Holiday displays usually appear in El Paso in early December and don't get taken down until after New Year's Day.

El Paso Downtown Christmas Lights (late November–early January)

Beautiful Downtown dazzles with approximately 400,000 mini-lights dressed over 120 trees. One of the main highlights is the impressive 30-foot (9-m) Christmas tree, which illuminates the Downtown Plaza. Also, thousands of people flock to see the fantastic white light garlands and decorations at San Jacinto Plaza and S. El Paso Street.

El Paso WinterFest (November 23, 2024–January 5, 2025)

WinterFest is one of the best family-friendly events of the El Paso winter. The festival starts before Thanksgiving and lasts through early January. Downtown Arts Festival Plaza transforms into a winter wonderland with lights, festivities, and an outdoor ice skating rink. Visitors can enjoy food, shopping, exclusive deals, and much more.

The festival kicks off with a tree lighting ceremony in San Jacinto Plaza and the Scherr Legate Lights Parade in Downtown El Paso, from E Mills Avenue to N Campbell Street. Kids can enjoy Christmas Express rides as well as ice skating at the Hospitals of Providence Ice Rink. The rink operates on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and hosts special days on holidays as well. The Holiday Art & Farmers Market is another great opportunity to look for Christmas presents among a variety of local vendors.

The grounds are open from 2 pm to 11 pm on the opening day, while the ice rink operates from 5 pm to 10 pm on Monday-Thursday, until 11 pm on Fridays and from 12 pm to 10-11 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. General admission to the rink costs $12.

Lights Parade

The traditional Lights parade is sponsored by the Scherr Legate for its 2024 edition. More than 65,000 people line up along the parade's route to witness this annual spectacle. The festivities begin at 4:30 pm, but the parade itself kicks off at 6 pm. The parade's route circles the city center, starting at E Mills Avenue ending at Campbell St. Dozens of colorful floats and illuminations bring the true holiday spirit to El Paso!

Fred Loya's El Paso Christmas Lights (November 29–December 25, 2024)

Fred Loya's El Paso Christmas Lights is one of the most popular Christmas entertainments in the city. After cancellations and a relocation to Ascarate park, the lights finally return to the Fred Loya's house for the 2024 edition. The Holiday light display is lit from late November through early January. On November 29th, the opening lighting will take place at 6-8 pm. During the rest of the event, the lights will be on on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday at 6-8 pm.

Eastridge Lights (early December–early January)

For almost 60 years, the neighbors on Eastridge Drive have come together to create a stunning Christmas fairytale in the Travis White neighborhood. Normally, starting in the first week of December, the houses on the east of the street light up with hundreds of elaborate decorations and lights. The entire route is about one mile long (1.6 km). The illumination generally lights up from 6:30 to 9 pm. The lines to enter the neighborhood are quite long on the weekends, so the best time to witness this spectacle is during the rest of the week.

Lights on the Lake Drive-Thru at Ascarate Park (December 7, 2024–January 6, 2025)

Ascarate Park is one of the most popular destinations for a winter stroll, thanks to the annual light show. During its previous years, the event featureed about 30 light displays around the lake, beautifully reflecting in the water. A sleigh and Christmas ornaments were one of the major attractions near the pavilion. This year, the El Paso County decided to scale back and organize a different experience that the community has been wishing for years—a Christmas drive-through. The drive-thru is normally on from 5 pm to 10 pm.

El Paso International Airport Tree Lighting (November 20, 2024)

El Paso International Airport is another attraction where visitors can enjoy the holiday decorations. The airport annually hosts a tree lighting ceremony at the airport lobby, which normally kicks off at 10-11 am. Besides the Christmas tree, Illuminated trees and lawn areas along the airport road are adorned with 75,000 lights. Additionally, the display includes impressive 9-foot (3-m) tall gift boxes, ornaments, and stars by the Terminal Drive.

Visitors can park their cars and take some pictures to create positive holiday memories in El Paso. The decorations are normally up through December and can be seen along with holiday performances on December 2-6, December 9-13, and December 16-20.