If you’re lucky enough to spend your holidays in St. Louis, you have many incredible options for holiday lights in St. Louis and around the region – from the Missouri Botanical Gardens to Wild Lights at the St. Louis Zoo, but the unsung heroes of this festive season are the homeowners who spend days stringing lights, synchronizing songs and blissfully arranging lawn inflatables for your entertainment. Below is a short list of some of the best home holiday light displays in St. Louis.
Ladue Pines Home: Toys for Tots Christmas Show
The house is the only residential collection point for Toys for Tots donations in the region, and often has a Marine volunteer on hand on the weekends to assist in the collection of donations. Last year, the Christmas display collected more than 3,000 toys for the needy during the season.
Candy Cane Lane: St. Louis Hills Neighborhood
Located in the 6500 block of Murdoch, the St. Louis Hills neighborhood lies squarely between two St. Louis greats – Francis Park and Ted Drewes custard stand. The neighborhood kicks off the holiday season with a Christmas Tree lighting each year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Neighborhood residents are so eager to participate in the annual tradition that dozens of volunteers help the elderly or otherwise busy with trimming their homes to ensure that holiday cheer shines from every home. Every visitor to the 6500 block of Murdoch receives a candy cane on weekend evenings, and there are frequently showings of holiday favorite movies on the laws of nearby neighbors. Prizes are awarded for the best-decorated house and best block in the neighborhood.
Don’t forget to bring along money when you go. The neighborhood association collects more than $10,000 each season for a rotating list of charities. Click for directions to Candy Cane Lane.
St. Charles County Home: Never Enough Christmas Lights
This St. Charles County House, shines bright with more than 71,000 lights, which, if stretched end-to-end, would stretch well over 4.2 miles. The lights, connected with more than 300 extension cords, take the homeowners around 18 days to assemble each year. The homeowners are now in their 9th year of synchronizing Christmas lights and songs to create a spectacular display that attracts hundreds to St. Charles County each year, and have named their annual project “Never Enough Christmas Lights.” The home at 607 Calamar Court is located off Highway N, across from the Wehrenberg Theater. A donation box set up next to their sign collections donations for Hope Ministries Food Pantry.
The show runs nightly Sunday through Thursday 5 pm to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday 5 pm to 11 pm, through New Year’s Eve.