As a child, what I looked forward to the most at Christmas was the magic of the Plaza Lights in Kansas City.
It is an over-90-year-old tradition that spans a 15-block area with Christmas lights over the entire Country Club Plaza. The lights come on in a special ceremony at each year’s Thanksgiving.
You can walk or drive through the Plaza area since the lighting is spread out throughout the retail district.
DETAILS: PLAZA LIGHTS
The Plaza Lights shine daily from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m., Thanksgiving through mid-January. All Plaza parking garages will be open and accessible throughout the Plaza Lights season.
Where We Stay
Our favorite place to stay near the Country Club Plaza is the Hampton Inn, which we could walk from to the Plaza.
You do have to walk down the hill to the lights, but it is very close.
Hampton Inn Address: 4600 Summit St, Kansas City, MO 64112
Out and About on the Plaza
Some of our favorite stores include Better Cheddar, which is the store to check out if you’re into cheese.
The Plaza also has a department store-sized Barnes & Noble that I always like to browse when I’m there.
Fun Facts About the Plaza Lighting
The Plaza lighting started with a single strand of Christmas lights strung over a store entrance in 1925, and by 1930, it included the whole plaza area.
Lights start to be strung up following Labor Day each year, and it takes that long to hang these many lights.
The Plaza is built like a Seville Spain square. There are towers throughout the complex, adding to the beauty of the lighting.
The big switch on the stage at the Plaza Lighting Ceremony really does turn on all the lights.
Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and his wife, Tavia Hunt, flipped the switch this year.
A child selected to help turn on the lights from the audience is always chosen randomly.
The only time that the Plaza lights were not in operation occurred in 1973, when President Nixon called upon all Americans to curtail the use of Christmas lights to reduce dependence on foreign oil imports.
Guests who have been invited to turn on the Plaza Lights include George Brett, Trent Green, “Fastest Man in the World” Maurice Green, Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet, Walter Cronkite, Derrick Thomas, Marcus Allen, Buck O’Neil, Saturday Night Live’s Heidi Gardner, and KC-based rapper, Tech N9ne.
Best Views
The best viewing options for the Plaza Lights include the 211 parking garage. Other rooftops with good views during the season of lights include McCormick & Schmick’s, The InterContinental Kansas City Hotel, and the second floor of Barnes & Noble.
Parking
All of the Plaza’s parking garages are free and open to the public.
Hours to see the lighting
The Plaza Lights shine daily from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m., Thanksgiving through mid-January.
The lighting is free and can be seen as you walk from restaurants to stores in the Plaza area. Also, you can drive through the streets of the Plaza and see the lights that way, watch where you are driving with people out and about and other cars.
MORE CHRISTMAS LIGHT DISPLAYS
Lake of the Ozarks
Santa, Rudolph, and lake-themed Christmas lights can be seen at numerous light displays during Christmas time at the Lake of the Ozarks.
See Lebanon’s Winter Wonderland of Lights
Whimsical Christmas lights reflecting off a lake are found at Lebanon’s Winter Wonderland drive-thru light display at Horner Park.
East Peoria’s Over-The-Top Festival of Lights
Dinosaurs, the Batmobile, a Star Wars X-Wing, 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.
Road Trip to a Top 50 Christmas Light Display
Keokuk, Iowa’s “City of Christmas” lights display made the list of the Top 50 Christmas Light Displays in America.
Seeing Christmas Lights on Candy Cane Lane
During the holiday season, the St. Louis Hills neighborhood along the 6500 block of Murdoch Avenue lights up with hundreds of strands of Christmas lights to become Candy Cane Lane.
