OUT & ABOUT: 5 area holiday displays to visit this season



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From a twinkling 100-foot tall Christmas tree at Lake Compounce in Bristol, to thousands of lights in the front yard on Wayne Road in Wallingford, there are plenty of over-the-top displays to see this holiday season.

Here are five area displays to help you catch the holiday magic.

Lake Compounce,185 Enterprise Drive, Bristol

Lake Compounce, which has more than one million holiday lights, will open to the public every weekend at night until Dec. 23.

The park also features a hard-to-miss 100-foot Christmas tree decked out in thousands of lights and decorations. 

“Everything is covered in lights,” said Sara Frias, director of marketing at Lake Compounce.

Families can enjoy children’s rides, food, hot cocoa, light displays and shows set to Christmas music.

Light-up figurines include Santa playing basketball and penguins having a snowball fight.

Guests can also take pictures with Santa Claus.

Hubbard Park, 979 W. Main St., Meriden

More than 200 figurines and over 350,000 lights make up the annual Festival of Silver Lights in Hubbard Park.

The festival, which runs until Jan. 1, features over 130 animals, such as reindeers, horses and penguins.

“My favorite features are the monkeys because my kids can’t get enough of the monkeys,” said BJ Vernon, Meriden resident and city employee.

Guests can drive through the park to see the holiday wonderland with twinkling stars and snowflakes hanging from trees and structures above. 

Castle Craig is even decked out in lights.

Wayne Road,Wallingford

Red and green Christmas colors light up Wayne Road this holiday season with over 100 Christmas figurines, including Santa Claus and Snoopy.

“This all started back when I would build Christmas villages at my grandma’s house,”  said Al De Santis, owner of the house at 7 Wayne Road. “I love doing it. It’s my hobby, to create things.”

Trees made of PVC pipes, built by De Santis, soar 20 feet in the air and are covered in lights. The roof of his house is also covered in thousands of bulbs. 

Drivers can see the display set to Christmas music everyday starting at at 4:45 p.m. until just after the holidays. 

Beaumont Farm,Wallingford

Some familiar characters are taking up residence at the corner of East Center Street and South Airline Road, outside of Beaumont Farm through the holiday season.

“This year is a tribute to everyone who has liked our past work,” said Billy Beaumont, farm owner.

The display started almost two decades ago and has grown in size and popularity.

The “Snow and Heat Misers” are new to the eye-catching display this year, a nod to the 1974 holiday film “The Year Without Santa Claus.”

The “Somber Town Ice Pond” is also new and features a skating rink filled with classic characters on ice skates, including Fred Astaire, the postman from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and Elsa from 2015 movie “Frozen.”

Hillscrest Road, Plainville

Music and lights are getting those that visit Hillscrest Road into the holiday spirit. The display features 25,000 lights and a Santa’s Workshop.

“Some nights the streets are filled up,” said Josh Brunelle, creator of the display and resident of 15 Hillscrest Road.

Brunelle started the display in 2012 in memory of his mother, who passed away in 2011

Last year was the first time that Brunelle and his friend Edward Sedwick-Cochran programmed the lights to go on and off to the tune of a dozen Christmas songs.

A Santa figurine can be seen climbing up the chimney while rows of carolers pose in the yard near a nativity scene.

Guests can visit the display from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday until Jan. 6.

akus@record-journal.com
203-317-2448
Twitter: @KusReporter



Let us know about other cool displays nearby!

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