12 Reasons to Attend the Annual Glow Holiday Festival in St Paul
Looking for a little holiday cheer in your life? You have to check out the Annual Glow Holiday Festival in St Paul.
Glow is an interactive holiday lights festival in St Paul. The Glow Holiday Festival is a Christmas light show and event that started as a drive-thru event in 2021. Visitors drove their own cars through the light displays and attractions with over a million-holiday light. This year, it’s a walk-thru experience.
I attended last holiday season during the drive-thru celebration and caravanned with some family in different cars. It was so much fun. The whole time, I kept wanting to jump out of the car and get a closer look. This year I’m so excited that the format changed to walk-through. As soon as I found out, I reached out to Glow to see if I could take a peek around.
This post is sponsored by DayTripper and Glow Holiday Festival. I received complimentary admission in exchange for an honest review. There may be affiliate links within the post. Clicking on them doesn’t cost you anything more. But I do earn a small commission. I never promote things I don’t stand behind.
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New to 2022
The Glow Holiday Lights Festival is at the CHS Field in St Paul! They have all the same displays, spread out over two floors. It should be amazing!
12 Reasons to Attend the Annual Glow Holiday Festival in St Paul
An Exciting Night Out for Families & Friends
The holidays are finally here! With Christmas around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about all the festive holiday fun your family can have. From interactive light exhibits, gingerbread houses, smores roasting and so much more. The Glow Holiday festival has all of your favorite parts of winter all in one place. There’s no shortage of festive events for you and your family to enjoy.
The Beauty of Northern Minnesota’s Winter Landscape
Minnesota is an absolutely beautiful place to spend the winter. The Glow Holiday Festival festival in St Paul brings the magic to life. With snow-covered trees and Glitter Critters. The Enchanted Forest and Tremendous Trees are some of my favorites. The festival does an amazing job of bringing to life the TrueNorth feeling.
The Feeling of Watching Thousands of Lights Dance
Some go their entire lives without seeing the Northern Lights. Glow Holiday Festival has a unique walkthrough experience, with 1,000 LED light tubes raining down below you that is reminiscent of just that. Inside the LED Lights is a room filled with a disco ball shining lights reminiscent of the night sky.
Ride the Giant Slide
Have a great time sliding down the Giant Slide. This is a 150-foot tube ride down from the concourse level to the field, providing riders with magnificent views along the way.
Riding on an innertube, you get some serious speed, no need to worry about needing snow!
Wonderful Opportunities to Take Photos with Family and Friends
If you are like me, and a little behind on the holiday cheer, the Glow Holiday Festival in St Paul is the perfect time to take some magical photos to fill your social media account. There are so many opportunities to take photos with family and friends. Don’t forget the camera and stop in at the Selfie Plaza. Get a picture at the Bright Bikes, or inside the Color Blossoms.
The Bike Powered Lights
Take control of your own light show with Bright Bikes. The integrative tree is powered by a fleet of bicycles. Around the tree are a dozen bikes you can jump on and power up the Christmas tree in front of you. The kids will not get enough of it. They have bikes of every type there to try.
Help raise money for Local Charities
Each night of the festival Glow Holiday has partnered with different charitable organizations. $1 from each of the tickets sold goes towards a different charity. From United Way and the Salvation Army to Be a Boarder and the Page Foundation, the organizations are big and small. If you need a reason to go out, this is one.
Enjoy some great food and drinks
This year, the festival is expanding to include food and beverage stations throughout the grounds, so you can enjoy holiday goodies, snacks, hot chocolate, cider, liquor, beer, and wine while you stroll among the twinkling lights. You’ll find them at all the ball park concession stands.
The food and beverage stations are serving up all of your favorite holiday flavors, so you can indulge in all of your holiday cravings. From sweet treats to savory snacks, there will be something for everyone to enjoy. And of course, no holiday festival would be complete without hot chocolate and cider.
Visit with Santa
One of the most popular attractions at the Glow Holiday Festival is the chance to meet Santa Claus himself! Kids and adults alike can line up to meet Santa and tell him what they would like for Christmas.
Or find out if out which list you’ve made. Santa is always happy to take photos with everyone so make sure you bring your camera!
Santa is located in a warm tent, so it’s the perfect excuse to escape.
Warm up with hot drinks
December in Minnesota is completely unpredictable. One day it might be in the 50’s and the next its 20 degrees with wind. That’s why Glow has plenty of places for you to warm up. From hot beverage stations to tents and fire pits.
Enjoy the holiday market
Get some gift ideas in their Holiday Market. This year’s GLOW Holiday Festival is bigger and better than ever, with tons of activities and attractions for the whole family. And what would a holiday festival be without a little shopping?
The GLOW Gift Shop is the perfect place to find unique gifts for your loved ones. From local artisans to one-of-a-kind items, we have something for everyone on your list. There is a wide selection of gifts from local artisans, like these cute threads from M+B Boutique.
Just down from the Holiday Market, we ran into some carolers!
Get lost in lights
This year the Holiday light maze is bigger and better. Located on the ground floor, it’s got twists and turns that are sure to confuse you.
While there was no official direction you should travel through the displays, take the loop counter-clockwise no matter where you enter. This way you’ll get the maze’s full effect.
How Much It Costs to Attend the Glow Holiday Festival in St Paul
Tickets are on sale now for $20.75 for Adults, $12.75 for Children. Kids 3 and under are free. Aside from food and merchandise, the only other thing that costs is the Slide. It’s $3.50 per ride. You can purchase tickets through their website.
What’s New This Year?
This year they’ve moved to CHS Field in St Paul. They have a lot of the same displays, rearranged and added some little homes in the forest.
There is a set direction for the displays to help with congestion. After completing the upper-level head down to the field for more displays. You can stay as long as you like and do the loop as many times as you wish.
What I loved was there wasn’t as much dead space between displays. The upper level was all on hard concrete, while the ground level was snowy. As we get more snow,
FAQs for Attending the Glow Holiday Festival in St Paul
Buy tickets ahead of time. They do sell them at the gate but they will sell out. Tickets are good for a one-hour window. Tickets are non-refundable.
Make sure to bundle up. When in doubt, bring it. This is Minnesota after all.
The entire festival is Cashless. Bring a credit card or debit card for all transactions. The kids were able not to pay with cash for the glowing merchandise
The entire festival takes about 1 hr to get through.
Where to Park for Glow Holiday Festival In St Paul?
The recommended parking is at Union Depot. We paid about $4 total for parking for just over an hour we were there. We did notice parking across the street for $7. There is always street parking too. From Union Depot, it was about three blocks away.
Would I go back to the Glow Holiday Festival in St Paul?
Yes, this is truly a magical experience that my family loved. One of the things I hear from the community about Glow is the ticket prices. They’d rather go to one of the free displays around town.
Let me just say, a family trip to Duluth or Mankato, with a hotel is going to cost you more than seeing this close to home. For the price of a tank of gas, you’ll get a family of four into Glow and not have to drive a long way.
Glow Holiday Festival is exceptionally well done. Crowds are smaller and the experience is memorable. This is a new holiday tradition for my family.
Looking for more great Christmas Light Displays around the Twin Cities? Here are some of my favorites!
Where to See the BEST Christmas Lights in MN
The Newest Holiday Light Display in Wisconsin: Miracle at Big Rock
The Spirit of Winter: Festival of Lights Display in Waconia
