NC Eat & Play is proud to be the statewide partner of The Town of Leland’s Christmas programming featuring Leland in Lights. The 6-week festive outdoor Christmas celebration features more than 150,000 lights and is considered the largest light display in southeastern North Carolina.
Megan, NC Eat & Play’s Founder and Chief Curator will be kicking off the festivities at Leland in Light’s grand community celebration on Dec. 4, 2021. She’ll have the kids bundled up to take the cutest holiday pictures with Santa and help light up Leland’s iconic Founder’s Park.
Maybe it’s time for the Nichols to break out the Christmas onesies?
This is a family must trip! Make sure to follow NC Eat & Play’s Instagram stories for holiday outfit picks. Megan shares, “I’m gonna need help picking outfits for me and my family. With so many people traveling to celebrate this amazing light display, we’re going to want to be as festive as we can.”
Here’s what you need to know about Leland in Lights
Megan is excited to be partnering with the Town of Leland for their annual Leland in Lights Celebration. Leland in Lights is a grand illumination and a kick-off to the holiday season. It will definitely give you all of the holiday feels! The forested section of the park is the perfect hub with trunk-wrapped trees, whimsically wrapped branches, mature oaks covered in beautiful, dangling lights, icicle lights, and glowing orbs. It sounds so magical!
Photos provided by The Town of Leland
Some of the favorite interactive displays you’ll find in the park are a snowman, Santa, kids having a snowball fight, and so much more. You can’t miss the old man winter display; a massive 40-foot plus tall focal point of the display! And, you can’t forget about the incredibly lighted Christmas trees.
The kickoff event is on Dec. 4th (A Day of Holiday Play), where you can enjoy warm treats and drinks and Santa, of course! Every kid will receive a candy cane and a small gift. Kids can even write a letter to Santa using an interactive art station and drop off their Christmas wish list in Santa’s mailbox. How cute is this, y’all?!
Their goal is to immerse visitors in Christmas and Leland in Lights does not disappoint!
Program for Dec 4th Kickoff
10 am – 3 pm The Cultural Arts Center Holiday Art Market will be open during the day for visitors.
Event Kickoff is 6 pm – 9 pm (depending on the crowd. No one will be turned away from Santa). Visit Santa’s Workshop and get a photo with Santa and much more!
Note: The Grande Illumination Light Display is not just a one-day event and will be on display for a 6-week period, through Jan. 10th. The lights come on every evening at dusk and stay on throughout the night. Visitors are welcome to walk through the light display. There’s plenty of great photo ops too! Please tag #lelandinlights so they can see your great photos!
There’s even a trail of singing trees! Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, anyone?!
This is a FREE event for all to enjoy! Parking is available along Town Hall Dr., Founder’s Park, or at the Town Hall parking lot.
Come make some lifelong memories at Leland in Lights!
For more information about Leland in Lights, visit LelandinLights.com, Website, Instagram, and Facebook.
Does the shuttle from the church run every night and If so what hours
Hey Janet, just spoke with Parks & Rec and they tell me, “No, the shuttle is no longer running. However, there is onsite parking at the Founders Park parking lot, in the Town Hall parking lot, and along Town Hall Drive.”
need to know about train__ does train take you thru whole display also can adults ride train mom has a walker can she take on train?? thanks!!
Hey Jeffrey! Thanks for asking. I spoke with the folks from Parks & Rec and they told me the train does run through the whole display. Adults are able to ride, but there would not be room for a walker. You should be able to leave it at the station where you enter and exit!
Where can I find the pictures that they took with Santa? They gave us a slip with a website but it won’t pull up.
Hey Brittany, we sent you an email. The first thing you should know is the URL is case-sensitive. So make sure you are using capital and lowercase letters where shown.
Hopefully, you have already resolved this issue. If you continue to have issues, feel free to email us back. We can try and help you get those photos.