'Tis the season for all things holly jolly. In the Coachella Valley, that means the return of the annual drive-thru Christmas lights display Magic of Lights in Indio.
Every year, more than 2 million lights are set up across the Empire Polo Club grounds to bring dazzling figures and scenes to life, including a 32-foot tall Barbie, a prehistoric Christmas, winter wonderland and the "12 Days of Christmas." The family-friendly event will be in town through Dec. 29.
On Monday, local leaders and community members celebrated the opening of Magic of Lights, equipped with hot cocoa, snacks and their best holiday gear. The Desert Sun was on the grounds to take in all the sights, sounds and smells from the evening, so here are the five things we think everyone should check out:
Hot cocoa, funnel cake fries and more for your sweet tooth fix
A journey into the Holly Jolly Village, where guests can find Santa and Mrs. Claus and a number of family-friendly activities, works up an appetite. Luckily, Magic of Lights has a few different sweet and savory menu items available for patrons to chew down on.
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I grabbed a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows, which was surprisingly not too sweet and just the way I like it. Other sweet treats available are funnel cake fries (I didn't get to try these, but they smelled delicious), cinnamon rolls with a few different flavor toppings (Christmas spiced blueberry, cinnamon apple and San Andreas strawberry), kettle corn, cotton candy and chocolate or peanut butter cookies.
On the savory side, there's a tamale boat (beer, pork or cheese tamales served with warm green verde or cheese sauce) and tacos served every Tuesday (with pork carnitas barbacoa, chicken tinga, cilantro, onion and lime).
Cute puppies to light up your night
Aside from the bright lights all around you, the best sight to see at Magic of Lights is sweet puppies running around the Holly Jolly Village.
Desert Paws Sanctuary, am Indio-based pet rehabilitation and rescue agency, was on the grounds Monday night to show off some of their four-legged pals. Marvel, a maltese-poodle mix, stole my heart in particular.
He was found wandering the streets of Coachella earlier this year. When he entered Desert Paws Sanctuary's care, they discovered that he was paralyzed with three open wounds on his hind end and was diagnosed with a fractured vertebrae. Nevertheless, this good boy is making great strides, undergoing hydrotherapy multiple times a week and showing improvement.
Despite his challenging situation, Marvel is a true marvel who was running around (with the help of a doggy wheelchair) the Christmas village and cuddling up next to everyone.
He is just one of several dogs available for adoption at Desert Paws Sanctuary. The team will be on the grounds 6-8 p.m. every Friday during Magic of Lights.
Discounts available every night
Something new that Magic of Lights is offering this year is daily themed promotional nights for at-gate ticket discounts. Patrons can get $5 off their price on these days:
Photo ops galore for the whole family
When you have a fun holiday light display, you have to include some cute photo opportunities for all those who want to mark the occasion on social media. Lucky for all those out there who want to capture the perfect selfie, there's plenty of cute places to do so at Magic of Lights.
There's a massive, lit-up photo frame available, where I saw plenty of family members grabbing photos together (I even got one with some friends). Boys and girls that have been nice this year can also grab a free photo with Santa and Mrs. Claus, which is always the perfect occasion to ring in the holidays.
MagicVision selfie filters are also new this year to transform photos into festive holiday-themed images.
Displays that stand out
Of course, we have to talk about the holiday light displays themselves. Magic of Lights always knocks it out of the park when it comes to crafting up towering images all throughout the Empire Polo Club, and this year is no different.
Some of my personal favorite displays include the massive Christmas-themed waving Barbie, various dinosaurs roaming around the grounds, all the big gift boxes they have set up in the holiday village and all the colorful drive-thru tunnels. There are many more displays that are worth mentioning, but I don't want to spoil too much of the fun. You'll just have to see it for yourselves.
How can I purchase tickets?
Tickets are on sale now and are priced per vehicle. That means it doesn't matter how many people are in a vehicle, the vehicle will pay one standard price.
Advanced tickets cost $25 for weekday and $30 for any day. A limo/party bus costs $60 and a bus costs $87.47. Prices at the gate are $40 per vehicle on a weekday and $45 per vehicle on a weekend. A limo/party bus costs $75 for any day at the gate.
Visit magicoflights.com/locations for more information.
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ema_sasic.