Lake Metroparks Country Lights Drive-Thru to kick off Nov. 30
Nov. 26—Lake Metroparks Farmpark in Kirtland will be holding its now annual Country Lights Drive-Thru starting Nov. 30.
According to the Lake Metroparks, a route of over a mile will be lit up with traditional Christmas decorations with some modern twists.
Andy McGovern, the Lake Metroparks Farmpark events manager, said that he estimates over 300,000 lights have been set up along the route with over 70 trees draped in holiday lights.
"We started the drive-thru because of COVID," McGovern said. "And it has kind of turned into its own really fun little event. We can do a lot more with the drive-through with the lights. It's all themed — there is a Grinch area, a Charlie Brown area, a train area, elves, Santa, things like that. It's a lot of fun."
McGovern said that now that visitors are in cars, he is able to control what visitors see which gives him more options in showcasing the light display.
"I can do more in the sense of lights," McGovern said. "We can have a bigger light display than we did before. It's about a mile long and we have gotten very creative. The guys have been working hard — we started hanging lights literally the Tuesday after Labor Day.
"It takes us a long time to do it and I'm actually standing next to the guys right now doing the final prep and going over everything with a fine-tooth comb."
Along with the lights being on display, a food stop serving small snacks of nuts and fried elephant ears, with beverages, will be available, according to McGovern.
Wooden toy kits will also be available during the purchase of a car ticket. Each toy kit costs $5 and can be picked up at the time of the event and taken home to be assembled. The kits do not include the glue or paint.
McGovern said that visitors during the day can experience the lights as well. The lights are LED and will be on during the day so even though it might not be as bright, visitors can get a taste of what to expect at night.
He said that the whole park will be decorated, which gives a new twist to Lake Metroparks Farmpark, even if someone is a frequent visitor.
"It's a lot of fun, we go for the 'wow' factor," McGovern said. "It's a lot of family fun. There is a lot of things that people will be able to see.
"The idea with our Light Drive-Thru is you look one direction, and you see lights, you look in another and you see more lights," he added. "The deeper you get into our drive through the brighter and more lights there are. We don't really want to give away too much in the beginning."
While the lights might be the main event, McGovern said that during the daytime hours Santa's Trade Route will be on display. The display features a 30-by-20-foot train, which was brought to the park by the North Ohio Garden Railroad Society.
The event is expected to run rain or shine, according to a news release, although visitors are encouraged to check Lake Metroparks Farmpark website before they come to ensure an easy visit.
Visitors will be able to drive the route Nov. 30, Dec. 1-3, 7-10 and 14-22 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are required prior to arrival and cost $27.50 per car with online sales having started at the end of October.
After tickets are purchased online at goto.lakemetroparks.com/tickets, tickets can be scanned from a smartphone at the Farmpark after they are emailed to the purchaser, or they can be printed and scanned.
Lake Metroparks Farmpark is located 8800 Kirtland-Chardon Road.
