Tickets on sale for Austin Trail of Lights, which is back on foot for 2022
Editor's note: This story has been updated with ticket on-sale information released Sept. 29.
Stretch your calves and dig out your jingle bells. Austin Trail of Lights, the city’s annual holiday light path in Zilker Park, will return to its traditional format this year, organizers revealed earlier this year. Now they've released ticket prices and are opening the virtual box office.
When the coronavirus pandemic began, the event transitioned to a modified drive-thru version to allow for social distancing. (No carnival rides, no eating a funnel cake under the watchful eyes of 2 million little lights.) For the 58th annual edition, running Dec. 8-23 this year, Austin Trail of Lights will welcome visitors for the more familiar walkthrough experience.
How can I go to Austin Trail of Lights 2020?
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Sept. 29 at austintrailoflights.org. Admission will be free on seven out of the 14 nights that Trail of Lights runs. Children younger than 12 will be able to enter free for the entirety of the event. Prices run from $5 for general admission to $90 for a platinum pass with valet parking. They are offering early entry ZIP passes again for $20 to $25. This year's preview night, a fundraiser for the Trail of Lights Foundation, will be on Dec. 2. Trail of Lights also hosts private parties.
Holiday by headlights:Here's what the drive-thru Austin Trail of Lights is like
Trail of Lights will be closed on Mondays. Organizers will release a calendar of programming for Trail of Lights in October, too.
What about the Trail of Lights Fun Run?
It's on for Dec. 3. Registration is now open at the Austin Trail of Lights website. The course starts at Zilker Holiday Tree and goes through Trail of Lights, with a party at the end. This year's Fun Run is sponsored by Chuy's, and fun-runners are encouraged to donate toys to the Operation Blue Santa Program.
There will be three waves of start times: 5:45, 6:45 and 7:45 p.m. Early bird pricing for registration, $35-$80 for adults and $20 for kids, is in effect until Oct. 3. Prices go up after that.
I'm new. What's Austin Trail of Lights?
Well, it's the heart of holiday spirit in Austin, if you ask its fans. According to event organizers, the tradition started as a small gathering around the yule log in 1965. Over the years, it has grown to millions of lights, 90 lighted trees and more than 70 displays. (The best display is the giant walrus. Real ones know.) Organizers tout about 400,000 visitors each year.
Austinities might remember that the event was canceled for several years beginning in 2010 because of a lack of funds. The nonprofit Trail of Lights Foundation took over the event in 2012, and the event has successfully kept the park merry and bright for the past several years. In 2020 and 2021, that meant modifying the traditional set-up for cars instead of pedestrians.
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Trail of Lights is capped off by the Zilker Holiday Tree, a towering Tannenbaum made up of string lights in the city's central park. It is actually one of Austin's moonlight towers, 155 feet tall and festooned with more than 3,000 multicolored lights come Christmastime. Last year, pedestrian access to the tree from Trail of Lights was cut off due to the drive-thru format.
Go to austintrailoflights.org for more information on this year's Trail of Lights.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin Trail of Lights 2022 dates revealed, and it's back to normal
