A Star Wars firefight and skiers jumping over your car are just some of the amazing light displays at East Peoria’s Festival of Lights.
The Festival of Lights electric park is made up of floats that begin in the Parade of Lights prior to Thanksgiving each year. Being floats allows them to be huge displays that you drive by.
What You Will See
Space Opera Area
Star Wars fans will love the Tie-Fighter and X-Wing battling it out, which Andrew loved.
The USS East Peoria Enterprise is one of the most complex floats ever constructed from an engineering standpoint. It measures 14 feet tall, 57 feet long and nearly 22 feet wide and has over 48,000 LED lights.
A fan favorite is the Space Shuttle Discovery with an astronaut coming out from the top.
Prehistoric Land
Includes exploding Volcanoes and Dinosaur, Triceratops, Puff Dragon, Baby Puff and a Chinese Dragon that together combine 106,000 LED lights.
Clydesdales
This float was inspired by the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales and was designed to be life-like.
Sea World
You will see Dolphins and Seals in East Peoria! The Whale float is covered in 15,000 mostly blue lights and includes Baby Shamu.
Vehicles
The Festival of Lights has a fine selection of classic cars with a ’57 Chevy and of course the Batmobile along with a classic Hook and Ladder Fire Truck.
Mountain Skiers
Electric lit Skiers go down a lighted hill and up over your car to the bottom of the ski jump on the other side.
Western Town
This area includes a Steam Train and is the tallest and longest float, measuring 160 feet and 15 feet tall, with more than 65,000 light bulbs.
Christmas Toys
The Festival of Lights also has its own Toy Train and Rocking Horse and even the Energizer Bunny.
These are just some of the many light creations you find along the route!
The Details
Hours:
5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 24 through Sunday, Nov. 26; 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Sunday- Thursday in December; 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, December Nights and then 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 24 through Jan. 2.
Admission: Cash, debit, and credit cards are accepted.
$10 – regular vehicles (cars, trucks, vans)
Address: 123 Par 3 Lane, East Peoria, IL 61611
Where We Have Dinner
Burger Barge
This restaurant is nearby and has our favorite funnel cake fries that are sweet instead of salty and have a syrup dipping sauce.
The burgers are savory, the onion rings are crunchy and they have a good beer and mixed drinks menu.
Hours: 11 am – 8 pm Sunday – Thursday and 11 am – 9 pm Friday – Saturday.
Address: 1401 N Main St, East Peoria, IL 61611
Christmas Shopping
Caterpillar Visitor’s Center
Sometimes when we’re in Peoria we check out this center, where you can learn about bulldozers and other heavy equipment in the museum. Yet, we usually go here for the gift shop which is free and you can see some of the stuff on display.
Hours: 10 am – 5 pm (Last ticket/entry at 3:30 pm) and closed on Sundays and holidays
Address: 110 SW Washington St, Peoria, IL 61602
Dan Fogelberg Tribute
Fans of the New Year’s song “Same Old Lang Syne” can visit the store at 1302 E Frye Ave, Peoria, IL 61603, where he bought the six-pack for a moment with his high school sweetheart in the song. The street has been honored with his name as the Dan Fogelberg Parkway.
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