Friday, December 03, 2021
Insider tips for the 10 best holiday light displays in the Pittsburgh region
nextpittsburgh.com: From out-of-town destinations to favorite destinations right here in the city, Pittsburgh is filled with incredible holiday light displays. Check out our top 10 places for holiday light experiences this year.
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I have always loved the way Pittsburgh is decorated for the holiday season. As someone from California, the lack of sunlight in Pittsburgh more often than not gets to me, but anytime I have gone to any of these light displays, my spirits have been lifted, which is a huge deal for me cause no sunlight really makes it gloomy for me.
My two favorite ones out of these light displays is the Kennywood and the Phipps one. Somehow these two always have something new in their decorations and no one time has been the same. I think, at least for Phipps, that since it is closer to where I live, I can go to the display multiple times which makes me love it more for sure. For Kennywood, the whole amusement park thing, combined with the vibrant lights just makes the whole experience memorable. I think the Pittsburgh light displays are just the best.
The first thing I thought when I saw this was "wouldn't this be a cool project for the lighting designers?" I don't know if they'd be offended by the idea of doing a lighting design for what is essentially a lawn decoration but holiday lights are just a different kind of large scale entertainment right? Or at least I think it is if it's done right. Imagine the lighting designers put on a holiday light show/display on the cut and the drama building. Get media and sound involved and you could have a comprehensive exhibit of their talent and holiday cheer. Have some projection mapping on the buildings that time with lights and holiday music. I think it would be awesome. I am sad that I never stay in Pittsburgh through the winter long enough to really see winter/holiday decor and lights. It's one of my favorite times of year and activities to do. I've been to the Phipps lights which were great once. Maybe it's time to go again.
I have always loved the way that Pittsburgh and its residents always go all out for holiday decorating. Even in my own neighborhood, people have completely transformed their homes to massive light displays with other decorations mixed in. It is probably my favorite part of living in this city. One of my absolute favorite parts of the holidays in Pittsburgh is Light Up Night! There is nothing more exciting than heading downtown, seeing the tree lighting up, along with multiple firework displays and live music performances. The little Christmas village in Market Square is amazing and I look forward to it each year. This article is great because it highlights some of the displays that are just outside of the city and that are more interactive than the ones I’ve mentioned. I am really interested in seeing the Shadrack’s Christmas Wonderland. I just wish some of these ticket prices were less, as they all seem to be pretty expensive.
Nothing screams christmas more than these large lighting displays. I had no idea just how many there were in Pittsburgh and now I feel the need to go check them all out! I was surprised to see Phipps so far down the list, since I drive past it every day and look forward to going soon, but if that's any indication about the scale of those above it like the Zoo then I'm even more intrigued to go see those displays! I agree with Magnolia that this would actually be a really cool project for the design students to work on. There are so many ways to incorporate things like NeoPixel LED strips that can be pixel mapped, along with outdoor projection mapping and even integrated sound design. In fact, I think it could be a really cool way to decorate the lobby coming back from thanksgiving break. Using our skills outside the theatre environment is just as helpful in learning design along with what we put on stage.
First off I had no idea that there were so many light shows in the Pittsburgh region. I believe the one ranked number one I have been to in Butler county and it was a pretty cool drive through display but I don’t remember the choreographed radio music so maybe it was a different one in beaver county. I was also surprised to see kennywood and Phipps so far down on the list - I was expecting phipps to be near the top. I’m definitely going to have to check out the mini golf lights just because I really enjoy well decorated and clever mini-golf setups. Last Halloween I went to a Halloween themed mini golf that was just alright but I don’t remember if this is the same place or not. It’s also funny that at least one haunted house also has a Christmas display. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to check out some of these spots!
This was a really cool article to read, but I will say it would have been nice to know upfront if the light displays were walking or driving. A few I got excited for, only to find out they were driving only. As someone who doesn’t have a car and buses around, it was sort of disappointing there weren't more walking ones. I will also add that I didn’t realize how expensive light displays were. There’s a fair sized circle of houses back where I live that decorates with unique themes for each house every year for as long as I remember and it’s free to drive or walk around. There’s vendors, which cost money, and music, but to enter it’s free, so seeing some of the prices were eye opening. I am also very curious about why the Shadrack’s Christmas Wonderland has quite the range of prices for cars…
My first yhoight when I saw these was “wow pretty”, but almost immediately, all I could think about us how much ridiculous light pollution these are putting out. That’s not even to mention the power draw, which is probably substantial even in the age of mostly LEDs. As we as a society have become more aware of things like light and sound pollution and how they affect both people and ecosystems so negatively, I can’t imagine that displays like this will not start to become less common and eventually become a thing of the past. It seems like you’d hardly be able to sleep without blackout curtains if you live in or next to someone with all these lights in your yard, and for the larger neighborhoods that have a lot of this, I would think that pretty much all local fauna like birds, squirrels, and maybe even outdoor cats would suffer from the disruption of normal day night patterns.
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