More than a million lights will blanket the 3-acre cactus garden at Ethel M Chocolates in Henderson starting November 5, marking the 33rd year of the Holiday Cactus Garden Lights display. The show runs through January 3, 2027, and this season brings a new option for families hoping to dodge long lines for a photo with Santa Claus.
A Fast Pass to Santa and a Returning Tradition
According to KSNV, Ethel M Chocolates is offering a Santa Express Pass this year, giving guests a reserved date and time slot for a visit with Santa between November 6 and December 23. The $40 pass covers up to six people, and children under 2 and adults over 65 do not count toward that six-person limit, the station reports. It includes front-of-the-line access, is available in limited quantities each night, and can be purchased in advance through Ethel M's website, per the same report.
Guests who skip the pass can still take their own photos with Santa for free, or opt for a professional package. Onsite photo packages from Cashman Photography range from $35 for a single custom-framed 8x6 print to $50 for two photos, with digital QR code downloads included, according to Ethel M Chocolates.
What $3 Admission Supports
Entrance to the light display costs $3 per person, with free entry for children under 2 and adults 65 and older. Half of all proceeds are donated to Three Square Food Bank and HELP of Southern Nevada, per Ethel M Chocolates. That fee structure marks a shift from past years, when the garden accepted canned food donations rather than direct cash contributions to local food assistance programs, according to NV Moms.
Beyond the gate fee, the holiday season brings “stay and play” events with festive activities beneath the lights, as well as holiday chocolate tastings featuring limited-edition seasonal chocolates led by the company's chocolatiers, per the KSNV report. Those tastings offer optional wine pairings for guests 21 and older. Visitors can also grab seasonal drinks at the Garden Café, including Mexican hot chocolate, peppermint hot chocolate, and signature hot cocoa, along with specialty cocktails on select nights, according to Las Vegas Weekly.
A Nevada Original With Deep Roots
The Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden spans 3 acres and holds more than 300 species of cacti, succulents, and desert plants native to the American Southwest, Australia, and South America, making it Nevada's largest botanical cactus garden, according to Ethel M Chocolates. Outside of the holiday lights and the February “Lights of Love” Valentine's event, which features pink, purple, and red lighting along with chocolate-dipped strawberries and wine pairings, self-guided visits to the garden and the factory viewing aisle remain free year-round, per Travel Nevada.
Ethel M Chocolates traces back to 1981, when M&M's and Milky Way creator Forrest Mars Sr. came out of retirement to found the small-batch company in Henderson in honor of his mother, Ethel Mars, using her original recipes to craft chocolates without artificial preservatives, according to Atlas Obscura. He chose Henderson in part because Nevada was one of only two states at the time that permitted the manufacture and sale of liquor-filled chocolates, a detail documented on Wikipedia. Mars Sr. built the company independently before Mars, Incorporated acquired it in 1988; it still operates as the flagship small-batch gourmet chocolate kitchen within the corporate parent, per Wikipedia.
The factory also runs on a chemical-free wastewater treatment system known as a Living Machine, which uses bacteria, algae, snails, and fish to purify industrial wastewater that is then recycled to irrigate the cactus garden, according to the Atlas Obscura report. The system's purified water reportedly draws native wildlife to the grounds as well.
