The Warm Beach Camp & Conference Center, a well known and popular camp, conference and retreat center has been in Stanwood, Washington since 1956. Stanwood is north of Seattle and south of Bellingham. In 1997 it opened the first “Lights of Christmas” event on the beautiful wooded grounds. Please note that our iPhone photos do not due justice to the quantity and quality of this wonderful festival of lights!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sher and I went with our daughter, son-in-law and grandson to see this attraction, billed as the largest Christmas Festival in the Pacific Northwest. It features over one million lights and of course Christmas themed light displays. We started our idle speed driving tour with the purchase of some absolutely warm and decadent mini-donuts and a bag of freshly popped kettle corn. By tuning your car radio to a particular FM station you get some great Christmas music, some good clean humor and an excellent background program.

 

 

 

 

 

In the past patrons had left their vehicles for out of vehicle activities like the train rides. The website calls out a lack of staff this year, so you stay inside your vehicle, with the exception of the snack bar/store and Santa’s Village areas. Santa’s Village and store was, for us, quite a walk from the parking. Restroom breaks and stopping at Santa’s Village aside, the drive time through the lights takes a little over 30 minutes.

What a remarkable event this has become over the past 25 years. What started out as an idea to keep the Camp & Conference Center busy during the slow winter holiday season has turned into the holiday highlight for thousands of Pacific Northwest families each year. This is a delightful attraction, and we heartily recommend it.

Tickets must be purchased online before arriving at the event to control the attendance numbers. Admission costs are per vehicle and are very reasonable. This is The Lights of Christmas website. Dates, times and all other information is provided here.