For the last few holiday seasons, the Nebraska Christmas Lights Show was something you watched through your windshield. You could keep the heater on, keep the kids buckled in and leave the music to the car stereo. When it opens on Thursday, Nov. 19, you won't need the car once you've parked it.
The show has moved to Sandhills Global Event Center at 4100 N. 84th St., and it is now a walk-through only. So both of Lincoln's big light shows now ask the same things of you: a ticket, a coat warm enough for an hour outside, and a walk from the parking lot. The rest of the season fits around that, from a downtown shopping night on opening night to a German-style market on O Street in mid-December.
Star City Shores ran out of room
10/11 NOW reported in October that organizers moved the show to Sandhills Global Event Center to handle growing attendance. They told the station their previous home at Star City Shores had become too small.
The format changed along with the location. The same 10/11 NOW report says guests will park and walk a lit trail to a Christmas Village with 10 themed rooms, and that the show will not offer a drive-through at all. The show's own site advertises more than a million lights synchronized to holiday music and says it runs rain or shine.
Here's what the new setup means on a weeknight:
- Dates: Nov. 19 through Dec. 27, opening nightly at 5:30 p.m.
- Hours: 5:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 5:30 to 11 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and holidays.
- Price: General admission is on sale for $15 per person, down from the regular $20. Seniors, adults and kids 2 to 18 all pay the same price, and kids 1 and under get in free.
- Groups: The show offers group rates for parties of 100 or more.
The trail means time on your feet in December air, so a family that used to come in pajamas with the heater running will want boots and hats this year.
Lincoln's two big light shows now run the same way
The Lincoln Children's Zoo has always been a walking show. Zoo Lights Powered by LES opens Friday, Nov. 20, one night after the Nebraska Christmas Lights Show, and runs through Dec. 30. The zoo describes light shows set to holiday music, hanging vine lights, light tunnels, more than 30 lit animal silhouettes, holiday train rides, and s'mores and hot cocoa stations. Adult hot cocoa, hot cider, beer and wine are sold every evening to guests 21 and older.
With both shows on foot, they're closer to each other than they've ever been. These are the differences that matter when you're choosing a night:
| Nebraska Christmas Lights Show | Zoo Lights Powered by LES | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Sandhills Global Event Center, 4100 N. 84th St. | Lincoln Children's Zoo, 1222 S. 27th St. |
| Season | Nov. 19 to Dec. 27 | Nov. 20 to Dec. 30 |
| Hours | From 5:30 p.m., until 10 or 11 p.m. | 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. |
| Entry | Walk-through, 10 themed rooms | Timed entry every 15 minutes, 6 to 8 p.m. |
| Adult ticket | $15 on sale, $20 regular | $13.95 member, $16.95 nonmember |
| Extras | Group rates for 100 or more | $3 holiday train ride |
| Closed | Not listed | Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day |
The zoo's timed tickets are the detail most likely to change your plans. Admission is required for everyone 2 and older, and tickets are nonrefundable. They can only be transferred if you buy Ticket Assurance. The zoo says time slots sell out, and if your night sells out, you can't buy a ticket at the gate. VIP tickets let you in at 5:30 p.m. or anytime during the evening. They cost $22.95 for members and $25.95 for nonmembers, train ride included.
The Nebraska Christmas Lights Show stays open later, so it's the easier pick for a last-minute Friday after dinner. Zoo Lights is closed Thanksgiving night, while the event center show's calendar lists no closed nights, so it's the one to try if relatives in town want something to do after the turkey.
Opening night shares the calendar with downtown's biggest shopping night
On Nov. 19, the night the Nebraska Christmas Lights Show opens, Downtown Lincoln holds its 19th annual Shop the Blocks. Shops stay open late from 4:30 to 9 p.m. with VIP passport discounts and giveaways, and you pick up your bag and passport at UBT Place.
This one is a walking event too, and the Downtown Lincoln Association builds the evening around that. Both ticket levels include free pedicab rides all night.
- Silver, $5: in-store discounts at select shops, a VIP shopping bag, a chance at an overnight stay at a downtown hotel, and shopping points prizes.
- Gold, $10: everything in Silver, plus entry to the after-party at The Sitch with complimentary appetizers, a cash bar and gift card drawings.
Online sales end at midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 18. On the day of the event, tickets cost $7 for Silver and $12 for Gold at the door. Every $20 you spend at a participating business enters you to win $100 in gift cards. The participating businesses listed for 2026 are A Novel Idea Bookstore, Fly Fitness, Francie & Finch Bookshop, Gomez Art Supply, Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln Children's Museum, Lincoln Running Co, Metro Gallery Nebraska, NY Collection LLC, Ruby Begonias, Threads, Tsuru, Underground Printing and the Union Bank & Trust Maker's Market.
Shopping wraps up at 9 p.m. and the light show stays open until 10 on a Thursday, so in theory you could do both in one night. In practice, you'd spend the whole evening on your feet across town. Most people will save the lights for another night.
December's first weekend fills up from Thursday to Sunday
The busiest stretch of the season comes in early December, and Saturday, Dec. 5, has events morning and night.
- Thursday, Dec. 3: The Lied Center hosts A Magical Cirque Christmas at 7:30 p.m. on its Main Stage at 301 N. 12th St. Tickets start at $34 for adults and $17 for youth.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, morning: The Lincoln Haymarket Development Corporation presents Breakfast with Santa from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Courtyard Marriott at 8th and R streets. Lazlo's serves a hot breakfast and The Mill provides coffee. There are selfies with Santa, swag bags from Burlington Antiques, Status and Three Daughters Boutique, a coloring contest with a $50 Downtown Lincoln gift card prize, and Santa's Mailbox for letters. Tickets are $15 for ages 4 and up, and kids 3 and under get in free.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, evening: The Love, The Locals Sip + Shop Preview Night runs 6 to 9 p.m. at Canoyer Garden Center, 2601 Long Pine Road. Everyone attending needs a ticket, children included, and tickets are not sold at the door. Your ticket gets you early access to the makers, a shopping tote, a drink ticket for Glacial Till Vineyard or White Elm Brewing, and a make-and-take washi tape station from Calico House. Food and drinks come from 402 Creamery, Sweet Spot Soda Co, The Thursday Club, Rutabagas, Twin Happiness and Ybor.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: The main Love, The Locals Holiday Market runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the same Canoyer greenhouse, with more than 80 local makers, live music and a photo booth. Admission is $6 by card or cash at the door, and kids 18 and under get in free.
The preview night has moved a day this year. It ran on Friday, Dec. 5, in 2025, and this year it's on Saturday, Dec. 5, so the ticketed evening and the Sunday market now fall on back-to-back days. Love, The Locals has run its holiday market in Lincoln since 2015. It's held inside a greenhouse, so this is the one big event of the weekend where you can leave the heavy coat in the car.
Wax Buffalo's fifth Winter Market keeps warm rooms close by
Saturday, Dec. 12, brings the biggest outdoor-style gathering of the season to the 700 block of O Street. Wax Buffalo's Winter Market on O Street runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 727 O St. For its fifth year, the organizer is billing it as a full-scale German holiday festival modeled on a European Christkindlmarkt, with more makers, food and drinks than earlier years.
The festival's plan pairs the outdoor market with indoor rooms nearby:
- A German beer garden created by Bierhaus
- A holiday wine bar inside Bin 105
- Lunch and festive drinks inside Fleetwood and Vinyl
- Live candle making inside The Nook by Escape Lincoln
- Discounted ice skating around the corner, sponsored by The Railyard
- A Christmas tree decorating contest and a Santa and kid zone
Ticket prices are posted on Wax Buffalo's winter market page. With the market set up between heated rooms, a few hours outside in mid-December is easy to manage. If your kids walked the light trail at Sandhills Global Event Center the week before, they'll already know how many layers it takes.
The season in one list
- Nov. 18, midnight: Advance Shop the Blocks sales end
- Nov. 19: Nebraska Christmas Lights Show opens and Shop the Blocks runs downtown
- Nov. 20: Zoo Lights Powered by LES opens
- Nov. 26: Zoo Lights is closed for Thanksgiving
- Dec. 3: A Magical Cirque Christmas at the Lied Center
- Dec. 5: Breakfast with Santa in the Haymarket and the Love, The Locals Sip + Shop Preview Night
- Dec. 6: Love, The Locals Holiday Market
- Dec. 12: Wax Buffalo's Winter Market on O Street
- Dec. 27: Last night of the Nebraska Christmas Lights Show
- Dec. 30: Last night of Zoo Lights
We'll be out at a few of these ourselves this season. If you're hosting family for the holidays and want to know which nights to book, or you just want to chat about life in Lincoln this winter, Selling Sisters would love to hear from you. Schedule a consultation whenever you're ready.
