From festive holiday light displays to beloved yuletide shows, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go in Oklahoma.
Whether or not you consider it the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” as the song goes, it’s certainly not a season where boredom is much of a problem. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, Oklahomans can feast on a veritable cornucopia of holiday options in several towns across the state.
Here is your guide to some of the Oklahoma towns going all out for Christmas:
Decorations are readied for the “Christ Tree” in Enid in 2021.
Head to Enid to experience The One Christmas tree
The One is a free, multi-event holiday experience at 150 W Park Ave. in Enid in northern Oklahoma. The centerpiece is The Christ Tree, a 102-foot steel tree with a 20-foot bright Bethlehem star. Opening night for this year is Nov. 29.
Enid’s multi-event Christmas celebration The One: Bright Lights launches Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, with the lighting of The Christ Tree. A 102-foot-tall steel tree with a 20-foot-tall Bethlehem star, it is adorned with nearly 35,000 lights and boasts a spectacular light show choreographed to Christmas music at the top of each hour.
The tree is decorated with nearly 35,000 lights choreographed to Christmas music, with showtimes most nights.
When organizers launched The One in 2021, their plan was to build the event around what was billed as the world’s tallest fresh-cut Christmas tree. After high winds toppled part of the 140-foot-tall Douglas fir at the inaugural event, they switched to an oversized artificial tree in 2023.
The One events planned for the holiday season include a Christmas Cruise, Christmas Critters, Storybook Night and more.
Information: https://www.theoneenid.com.
Experience Woolaroc and Christmas in the Ville in Bartlesville
In northwest Oklahoma, Bartlesville has its historic downtown decked out with outdoor ice skating, carriage rides, movies in the park, Santa sightings, holiday photo ops and more.
The 2025 season officially opens at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at 201 SW Keeler Ave in Bartlesville with a tree and park lighting, ice skating, food trucks, a downtown merchant crawl, carriage and tot train rides and photos with St. Nick.
The grounds and buildings of the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve in Bartlesville are covered with more than 750,000 lights during Woolaroc’s Wonderland of Lights.
While you’re in town, visit Woolaroc’s Wonderland of Lights from 4 to 9 p.m. Nov. 28-30 and 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays Dec. 5-21. The grounds and buildings of Woolaroc will be covered with more than 750,000 lights as the historic ranch transforms itself into a magical winter wonderland for this park and walk event. Santa will be at the museum every evening during the festivities, and all grounds and facilities will be open, including the 50,000 square-foot museum, animal barn, welcome center and cafe and the historic lodge, where cookies and hot cocoa will be available for purchase.
The historic ranch is situated 12 miles southwest of Bartlesville on State Highway 123, about 45 miles northwest of Tulsa.
Information: For Woolaroc, go to https://woolaroc.org. For Bartlesville, go to https://www.cityofbartlesville.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/christmasintheville.
The 50-foot leg lamp is seen in downtown Chickasha in July.
Get a leg up on Christmas in Chickasha
Visitors can walk or drive through the Chickasha Festival of Light, a nationally recognized 43-acre illuminated spectacle, from 6 to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 6 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 31 at Shannon Springs Park, 2400 S 9 in Chickasha.
The venerable yuletide attraction again earned a spot among the top 10 Best Public Holiday Lights Display in the 2024 edition of the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards, ranking No. 6. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. Additional treats available for a fee include an ice skating rink, Ferris wheel, carriage rides and food trucks.
Thousands of holiday lights illuminate the 2023 Chickasha Festival of Light at Shannon Springs Park in Chickasha, Oklahoma.
While in town, don’t miss the towering 50-foot-tall Chickasha Leg Lamp at First Street and Chickasha Avenue in the Grady County seat’s downtown. The popular rural Oklahoma roadside attraction inspired by the iconic prop featured in the 1983 movie “A Christmas Story” was officially unveiled in November 2022.
Dressed up in a black high heel, fringed lampshade and fishnet stocking complete with a seam up the back, the Chickasha Leg Lamp is inspired by local legend: Chickasha native Noland James, a longtime University of Oklahoma art professor, believed that a novelty lamp he created out of a mannequin’s legs and displayed in his office helped influence the design of the famed “Christmas Story” prop.
Information: https://chickashafestivaloflight.org and https://www.visitchickasha.com/the-leg-lamp.
Houses are decorated for the 2018 Distinctive Homes Tour, part of Guthrie’s Territorial Christmas festivities.
Christmastime starts on Nov. 28 in historic Guthrie
For nearly four decades, The Pollard Theatre has been putting on a Christmas show steeped in yuletide magic, holiday tradition and Oklahoma history. In 1987, Guthrie’s nonprofit theater debuted “A Territorial Christmas Carol,” an original adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” perfectly suited for Oklahoma’s original state capital. Over more than 1,000 performances featuring hundreds of theater artists, “A Territorial Christmas Carol” has entertained 175,000 ticketholders.
Along with The Pollard’s perennially popular yuletide show, the Logan County seat is hosting a veritable parade of holiday events, including many festivities designed to capitalize on its historic charm.
Established after the Land Run of 1889, Oklahoma’s first capital wrangles both Victorian architecture and territorial history. Part of the downtown Capitol Townsite Historic District is designated as a National Historic landmark, and the town features several antique shops and must-see attractions for history buffs.
Admission is free to A Very Merry Guthrie Christmas, a seven-block drive-thru holiday lights display featuring 100,000 lights, more than 70 wrapped trees, 40-plus wireframe vignettes, inflatables and other decorations from Nov. 28-Dec. 25 at the Cottonwood Flats recreation area at 450 N Fifth.
The city of Guthrie embraces its Victorian vintage and territorial history in particularly festive fashion during the holiday season.
Guthrie activities also include the Lighted Christmas Parade on Nov. 29, a Distinctive Homes Tour on Dec. 6, a Victorian Holiday Tea on Dec. 6, and Victorian Walks on Dec. 6 and 13. Plus, esteemed Oklahoma musicians Kyle Dillingham and Peter Markes of the globe-trotting Americana band Horseshoe Road will play in concert on Dec. 2 at Prairie Haven Events, 7500 W Highway 33.
For the second year, Guthrie’s yuletide events will include a “Country & Christmas” concert featuring the Grammy-winning trio the Gatlin Brothers and Oklahoma husband-and-wife duo The Imaginaries at 7 p.m. Dec 12 at the Scottish Rite Temple.
Information: https://averymerryguthriechristmas.org, https://www.facebook.com/GuthriesTerritorialChristmas, www.guthriesterritorialchristmas.org/historic-homes-tour, https://www.theguthriedepot.com/event-details/victorian-holiday-tea-2025, and https://www.prairiehavenevents.com.
Light displays fill the park during in 2023 in Yukon.
View Yukon lights at the city’s Christmas in the Park
The popular free yuletide visual spectacle Yukon’s Christmas in the Park is open from 6 to 11 p.m. every night through New Year’s Eve at 2200 S Holly Ave.
Motorists can drive along nearly three miles of illuminated fun to see 5 million twinkling lights and more than 500 lighted displays. Visitors also may walk through the lights or, for a small fee, ride the Santa Express Train. The tour starts in Yukon City Park and concludes in Chisholm Trail Park.
Pedestrians can stop by several “selfie stations” scattered throughout the parks and make a stop to visit Santa. Visitors should park in the Oklahoma Parking Lot, situated on the north end of Chisholm Trail Park.
For an extra fee, an ice rink is located inside Chisholm Trail Park next to the north parking lot.
Information: https://www.yukonchristmas.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Five Oklahoma towns celebrating Christmas that are worth visiting