More than a million LED lights will blink back to life along a 2.1-mile route at the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center starting Friday, as Christmas Nights of Lights returns for its 2026 run through Dec. 31. Drivers will also spot something new this year: 300 colorful illuminated gumdrops lighting up the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand.
The drive-through holiday display, presented by Fifth Third Bank, kicks off Nov. 6 and continues nightly through New Year's Eve. The show features more than one million LED lights synchronized to holiday music, and this season's new gumdrop feature adds a fresh splash of color to the grandstand. WISH-TV also confirmed the event's return to the fairgrounds for the 2026 holiday season.
How to Get In and What It Costs
Guests choose a reserved time slot — either 6 to 8 p.m. or 8 to 10 p.m. — with a third, late window available only on specified December dates, including some weekdays. Tickets run $40 per vehicle for up to eight people, $60 for nine to 15 people, and $85 for 16 to 35 people, according to indyschild.com. Advance online reservations are required, and the outlet stresses that tickets are not sold at the gate, with nightly availability limited.
Visitors enter at Gate 3, 1698 E. 42nd St. in Indianapolis, per the same indyschild.com report, and view the entire show from inside their vehicles. Pets are welcome, but the station's report notes they must stay in the car throughout the drive. Current and former military members can get in free during opening weekend, Nov. 6 through 8, by showing a military ID at the ticket booth, the outlet adds.
Charity Codes Offer Discounts Through Nov. 22
From Nov. 6 through Nov. 22, guests can use promotional charity codes at checkout to save on admission while a portion of proceeds from qualifying purchases benefits the associated nonprofit. The listed partners include the Muscular Dystrophy Family Foundation (code MDFF26), the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC26) and Indianapolis Indians Charities (INDIANS26).
Organizers are encouraging early ticket purchases, especially for weekend dates and nights close to Christmas, when availability tends to tighten fastest.
A Holiday Tradition Years in the Making
The fairgrounds' holiday light show has roots going back several years, with a low-confidence account from Visit Indiana describing an earlier version of the display that ran nightly through Jan. 1, 2020, and featured two miles of lighted displays synchronized to music. Tickets for this year's event are available now at christmasnightsoflights.com, with the full 2.1-mile route and its new gumdrop centerpiece set to welcome drivers starting Friday.
