If you’re looking for ways to get your family in the festive mood, don’t skip out on the Chickasha Festival of Light! My son and I were looking for a special “mommy and me date” after baby sister was born, and this proved to be the perfect thing. We loaded up with sweet treats from Sonic Drive-In, blasted Pentatonix on the radio and we were on our way!
Upon arrival, my son was blown away by the iconic Christmas Tree light display that you can see for miles around. We took our obligatory selfie there before moving on to the rest of the park. There is so much to do for all ages, even before walking through the light displays! We watched ice skaters wiz by and some that were still learning, we rode the carousel and the ferris wheel (beware, it’s VERY fast) and also played on the playground for a while before taking our stroll around the park.
This year is the 30th Anniversary of the Chickasha Festival of Light, and over 500,000 new lights have been added in the “Frozen Forest.” It shows! It seems so much bigger and more creative than the last time I visited several years ago. While you can also drive a loop around the park, it was so magical to take the longer, scenic walk through the bridge and other various light “tunnels” along the path. Christmas music plays through the whole park, not just for the drivers, which adds to the excitement and ambiance. There are concessions on two sides of the park, one selling warm donut holes and hot chocolate. Note for next year: wait until you get to the park to get a sweet treat!
After rounded out our walk through the lights, we HAD to check out this larger-than-life Leg Lamp Display that was newly built and installed by the Chickasha Community Foundation. We hopped back into the car and drove 5 minutes to the display, located adjacent to the historic Train Depot at 1st and Chickasha avenue. If you can believe it, the World’s largest Leg Lamp stands 50 foot tall and weighs over 6,000 pounds!
The permanent Leg Lamp structure replaces the inflatable one that was put up in 2020, but was difficult to keep up during windy days. The permanent leg lamp pays tribute to long-time Chickasha resident Noland James who passed away in 2020 and claimed that he invented the iconic prop used in the movie “A Christmas Story.” James’s original leg lamp is also on exhibit in the front display window of the Grady County Historical Society Museum, just 4 blocks West of the permanent structure.
Pack up your pink bunny suits and plan a family visit! The Festival of Light is Oklahoma’s Oldest Light Display, and is available for visitors daily through Dec. 31. A shuttle is offered from the new Downtown Park and Leg Lamp area to the Festival of Light on weekends in December. For more information, visit https://chickashafestivaloflight.org/.
