Living Local Nashville’s 2018 Guide to Nashville’s Best Christmas Lights

Middle Tennessee’s Best Christmas Lights

From professional to residential, Middle Tennessee is home to some of the most impressive Christmas light displays! Here are some of our favorites around the greater Nashville area. Our interactive map at the bottom of this page will help you make the most of your time if you’d like to see more than one show in a particular area.

Allstars Limousine Holiday Lights Tour

Enjoy cider, eggnog and holiday treats while experiencing some of Nashville’s best Christmas sights and sounds on this luxury limo ride through a customized route based on your pick up location. While in route between displays or sitting in long lines, show off your talent with Christmas carol karaoke (it is Music City, after all!) or enjoy a holiday movie. Allstars donates a portion of their proceeds to Toys for Tots, Salvation Army and Second Harvest.

Chad’s Winter Wonderland

You may have seen Chad’s Winter Wonderland on ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight.” Chad’s offers a drive-thru light tunnel, drive-thru Santa house, Nativity Scene, Christmas Train, live animals and over 350 pieces of Christmas scenery. Don’t forget to bring your letter to Santa; they have a special mailbox just for him!

Chad’s Winter Wonderland is at 791 E. Old LaGuardo Rd, Lebanon, TN 37087.

Cheekwood Holiday LIGHTS

Cheekwood’s Holiday LIGHTS boasts one million lights, live reindeer, gingerbread workshops, carolers, s’mores and more! Cheekwood Estates & Botanical Gardens has a reputation for being a favorite destination among locals year round. If you haven’t been before, Christmas is a magical time to visit! Cheekwood members only, don’t miss Breakfast with Santa on December 8th and 22nd!

Cheekwood is at 1200 Forrest Park Drive, Nashville, TN 37205.

Cherokee Caverns’ Christmas in the Cave

It’s a bit of a drive, but Cherokee Caverns remains a steady 58 degrees at all times so bad weather won’t cancel this show! Venture inside the underground vortex, but watch out for the Grinch! He needs your help to make his heart grow 3 times larger. Not a fan of the Grinch? Look for Cousin Eddie or have your picture taken with Santa! Learn more, see photos and watch a video of this unique Christmas attraction here.

Cherokee Caverns is at 8524 Oak Ridge Hwy, Knoxville, TN 37931.

Christmas Blow Molds 

Head over to East Nashville to see one of Middle Tennessee’s most nostalgic displays. These Christmas blow molds will take you back to your childhood! Lights are on every day throughout the holiday season from 4:30 until 10:00 p.m. unless it’s raining.

Christmas blow molds are at 2003 Forrest Green Drive, Nashville, TN 37216.

Christmas Candlelight Tour of Homes 

This enchanting tour of Murfreesboro’s historic homes and landmarks is a longstanding tradition in Middle Tennessee. The proceeds of the 35th annual Candlelight Tour of Homes will go toward the continuing preservation of Oaklands Mansion, which will be festively adorned in holly and evergreen and open for tours as well as holiday shopping at the Holiday Market at Maney Hall. Enjoy a hot beverage or warm treat from Baker’s Dozen Cookie Cabin, Cousins Maine Lobster and Something Southern Food Truck, and be sure to visit the live nativity displayed by the Southeast Baptist Church’s Bethlehem Marketplace.

Oaklands Mansion is at 900 North Maney Avenue, Murfreesboro, TN 37130.

Christmas on Milesdale Lane (Returning in 2020)

Christmas on Milesdale Lane is four loving sons’ way of honoring their dad, who they lost to colon cancer in 2010. Their Beach Boys and Alvin the Chipmunks Christmas music-loving father would always make Christmas special for his family, and they enjoy recreating that for their community now with over 20,000 lights dancing to some of your favorite Christmas songs (hopefully that includes some Alvin & the Chipmunks)!

Christmas on Milesdale Lane is taking a break in 2018 and 2019 due to an upcoming military deployment. We thank them for their service to our country and look forward to their 2020 return!

Christmas on the Cumberland

Christmas on the Cumberland stretches over seven-tenths of a mile along the McGregor Park Riverwalk in Clarksville. It’s pet-friendly (except during performances) and admission is free of charge!

McGregor Park Riverwalk is at 640 N. Riverside Drive, Clarksville, TN 37040.

A Country Christmas at Gaylord Opryland

You have until January 1st to experience Country Christmas at Opryland Resort, with 3,000,000 lights, ICE! indoor winter wonderland, Cirque Dreams Holidaze Stage Show, Scavenger Hunt, ice skating and a whole lot more!

Opryland Resort is at 2800 Opryland Drive, Nashville, TN 37214.

The Dancing Lights of Christmas

The Dancing Lights of Christmas, formerly located at Jellystone Park, is now in Wilson County at the James E. Ward Agricultural Center, home of the Wilson County Fair. Experience over a million & a half Christmas lights on an extended drive route, a variety of Christmas music, and an expanded News 4’s Santa’s Village.

Tennessee Kidney Foundation and Ronald McDonald House of Nashville have discounted tickets ($15 per non-commercial vehicle) available while they last. 100% of all tickets purchased through these organizations benefit their programs. 

James E. Ward Agricultural Center is at 945 E. Baddour Pkwy, Lebanon, TN 37087.

FrankTown Festival of Lights (New This Year!)

This drive-thru Christmas lights display will be a mile of smiles as visitors listen to Christmas music from the comfort of their vehicles as they drive through the display. FrankTown Festival of Lights is hosted by FrankTown Open Hearts, a non-profit ministry that provides mentoring, tutoring, recreation and spiritual growth opportunities to boys and girls from low-income neighborhoods. 

Williamson County Ag Center is located at 4215 Long Lane, Franklin, TN 37064.

Gill’s Bright Lights (Returning in 2019)

Gill’s Bright Lights‘ homemade display has won several Ann Chapman Holiday Lights Competitions and raised thousands of dollars for charity including the Smoky Mountain Fire Relief Fund.

Gill’s Bright Lights will be taking 2018 off and is planning to return in 2019 better than ever.

Hello Trolley’s Holiday Lights Tour

Both private and public Hello Trolley tours are available to enjoy the beautiful lights of Franklin and Williamson County including FrankTown Festival of Lights drive-thru lights display. The tours begin at The Factory at Franklin (building 11), running for 1 hour and 30 minutes around Franklin and Brentwood.

The Factory at Franklin is located at 230 Franklin Road, Franklin, TN 37064.

Holiday Lights Carriage Tours

You may want to go ahead and reserve your tickets now for the popular Holiday Lights Carriage Tours in the gorgeous Hillsboro-West End Neighborhood. See the beautiful HWEN homes decorated for the holidays, enjoy free refreshments, and remember to kiss your horse and tip your guide!

Holiday Lights Carriage Tours begin at 2800 Blair Blvd, Nashville, TN 37212.

If you’d rather do a self-guided driving tour of Hillsboro-West End Neighborhood, StyleBlueprint put together a handy list of streets you may want to see.

Holiday Lights Jeep Tours

If you’ve lived in Nashville for 3 days or longer, you know the weather here is unpredictable. It may be 75 degrees and sunny one December day and snowing the next. On this 90-minute tour, you’ll be picked up in a festively decorated Jeep and begin your experience with a photo op in front of the Nashville Christmas Tree. Experience all that Broadway, Music Row and Hillsboro-West End Neighborhood have to offer this Christmas season and end your tour at a local bar for some “holiday cheer.” You decide whether you want the top on/off, windows up/down, or heat blasting… it’s all up to you. Tickets are limited, so reserve your spot today.

Lights on Logan 

Middle Tennessee residents north of Nashville will appreciate this impressive, computerized light show. Lights on Logan contains 35,295 lights synchronized to music via 368 channels of computer control, and their website offers a “backstage” tour that should answer all of your questions (and questions you didn’t know you have) about the electricity, computer programming, and set up that goes into this show!

Lights on Logan will be live by December 1st, 2018.

Lights on Logan is at 2760 Logan Road, Greenbrier, TN 37073.

Lights on Luna

Lights on Luna is a musical computer animated Christmas light display in Hendersonville. The show is free, and visitors are asked to park in the church parking lot across the street so not to block the street for the nearby Fire Department.

Lights on Luna is at 176 Luna Lane, Hendersonville, TN 37075.

Lights on Old Charlotte

Lights on Old Charlotte and Lights on Sparrow Street resulted from the focused curiosity of a child and years of research. At 13 years old, Chad Hoover discovered what was needed for his first light show and began convincing his parents to get on board. In 2005, Lights on Old Charlotte came to life with nearly 10,000 computerized lights. The display has grown year after year, and Chad and his wife now live in Spring Hill, where they’ve expanded to a second display, Lights on Sparrow Street (Lights on Sparrow Street has moved again and will be closed for 2018). Visitors are invited to bring donations for Graceworks Ministries; over $33,000 has been raised in the past 6 years!

Lights on Old Charlotte is at 2613 Old Charlotte Pike, Franklin, TN 37064.

London’s Lights 

This traditional light display is a father’s Christmas tribute to his daughter who was lost in a tragic accident. London’s Lights is free to view, but visitors are invited to bring a toy to donate to kids at Monroe Carrell Jr’s Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

After five years in Hermitage and a year in Antioch, London’s Lights has relocated to 1001 Ash Circle, LaVergne, TN 37086

Metro Nashville Christmas Tree Lighting

A Nashville Christmas Tree Lighting wouldn’t be complete without music, and lots of it! Meet Santa, Gnash, T-Rac, and Booster and enjoy performances by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Lake Providence Missionary Baptist Church Choir, the Nashville Classical Pop Choir, and the Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School of the Arts Choir. Food will be available for purchase from local trucks. Festivities begin at 6:00 PM on Friday, November 30th.

All attendees are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy or other age-appropriate gift in the $10 – $25 price range for ages newborn to eighteen to help the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office in collecting toys for the Last Minute Toy Store.

Public Square Park is at 1 Public Square, Nashville, TN 37201.

Music City Light Show

Music City Light Show is a synchronized Christmas light display in the Lakeside Cove subdivision off Hobson Pike. They will run through the holiday season until January 1st every night from 5pm-9pm. Be sure to tune to 90.1 FM.

Music City Light Show is at 5361 Skip Jack Drive, Antioch, TN 37013.

The Pettys’ Christmas Corner

Residents west of Nashville, this one is for you! The Pettys’ Christmas Corner is one family’s way of sharing the true meaning of Christmas and giving back. Visitors to this light show are invited to bring donations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; they’ve raised over $37,000 in the last 7 years!

The Pettys’ Christmas Corner is at 132 Travis Drive, Dickson, TN 37055.

Simmons Holiday Lights

Simmons Holiday Lights will begin December 8 in Lebanon. Simmons also puts on spectacular Halloween light displays to the soundtracks of Harry Potter, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, and the music of Michael Jackson. We can’t wait to see what he’s got in store this Christmas!

Simmons Holiday Lights is at 75 Abbey Rd, Lebanon, TN 37087

Sunnyside Christmas Lights

Sunnyside Christmas Lights stretches down Sunnyside Drive in Brentwood with lights welcoming you as you drive to the main attraction at the end of the street. The light show is in memory of BJ Menneci whose favorite quote was “Dad, we need more lights!” BJ’s father is often seen visiting guests with their dog “Snow” and doesn’t charge anything to view the lights, but accepts donations for the Shriner’s Hospital for sick children.

Sunnyside Christmas Lights is at 1956 Sunnyside Dr, Brentwood, TN 37027.

Twinkling Tennessee Christmas

Twinkling Tennessee Christmas is a guided tour of the Historic Lotz House in Franklin, a drive through Franklin’s beautiful town square, and a trip to one of the most decorated neighborhoods featuring millions of lights on display!

Wintons Light Display

If you’re a fan of ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight” you probably saw the Wintons last year. The must-see light show illuminates their entire Manchester neighborhood, and their teenage son is the mastermind behind it all! Wintons Light Display is free, but visitors are invited to bring a donation for the Children’s Advocacy Center of McMinnville.

Wintons Light Display is at 55 Haskell Winton Road, Manchester, TN 37355.

And many more!

The displays above are all magical sights to see, but some of our best memories have been created just driving around our own neighborhoods with our kids in their pajamas and a thermos of hot cocoa seeing which neighbor wins our imaginary award for best decorated house in the ‘hood while playing Christmas tunes on the radio. If this is more your style, there’s a Facebook page for that. Middle Tennesseans share their favorite decorated houses here all throughout the Christmas season.

We would love to hear about your favorite Christmas lights on our Facebook page, Living Local Nashville! What does your family look for in a great display?

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About the Author
Ron Headshot v1web Square

My wife and I live in Donelson, where we both were raised and graduated from high school (DCA Classes of 1983 and 1984).  Our current home is on the Cumberland River, very close to my childhood home and the former homes of both my McDonald and Rice grandparents.

Our daughter and son are grown now, and our daughter, Stephanie Miller, is my real estate partner.  She lives in Lebanon with her husband and their two children.  While Stephanie and I specialize in the areas of Downtown Nashville, Donelson, Hermitage, Old Hickory, Mt. Juliet and Lebanon, we have and do serve clients all over Middle Tennessee.

As a Nashville native, I’ve spent a lifetime watching our city evolve, and I am enthusiastic about showcasing it to others and serving their real estate needs.

Services

1997 — 2000   Fleetwood HOA Board Officer

2013 — 2016   Rhythm at Music Row HOA Board Officer

2017   Greater Nashville Realtors: Housing Opportunities & Affordability Committee

2017 — 2018   St. Martin Square HOA Board Officer

2017 — 2019   Brentwood Photography Group Board

2018 — 2019   Senior Ride Nashville


Memberships

National Association of REALTORS®

Tennessee Association of REALTORS®

Greater Nashville Association of REALTORS®