The Festival of Lights Turns 40. Its Walk and Bike Nights Come First.

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the roads through Watkins Regional Park will be dark with traffic and bright with lights. From 5 to 7 p.m. on November 22, Prince George's County Parks will close the Festival of Lights route to vehicles and open it to cyclists, who will need helmets and their own bike lights to ride past the year's new displays. The night before, the route is open to walkers and runners.

The paid gate on Route 202 won't open to cars until November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. The county is calling this the 40th season, and its event page says it plainly: "Celebrate 40 years with us! New year, new displays, same tradition." The tradition most people picture happens through a windshield. The 2026 calendar gives Upper Marlboro four different ways to see the same lights, and when you go decides which one you get.

The Season, Laid Out by How You See It

Read top to bottom, the table shows a trade. The early nights offer the closest look at the displays, but only once each, for two hours, with a cap on how many people get in. The drive-through runs for five weeks, but you stay in your car unless you've booked a wagon ride.

November 21: Walk the Route and Feed a Family

Trot for a Turkey is the county's invitation to "run or walk through the beautiful Winter Festival of Lights!" Registration costs $35, and the county says each fee buys a holiday turkey for a family in need.

Measured against the drive-through, that's the priciest ticket of the season per person. It's also the only one that pays for someone else's Thanksgiving dinner. This is also the slowest pace you'll ever move through the displays, at walking speed with nobody behind you waiting to pass.

November 22: Ride It While the Cars Are Gone

Bikes and Lights is the night the per-person math works best for families. Riders pay $5 each, and children in a tagalong, a bike seat or a trailer ride free. Two adults pulling two young kids in a trailer pay $10, half the price of one car on any drive-through night.

The county's rules for the evening are short and firm. Helmets and bike lights are required, no vehicles are allowed on the festival roads during the event, and "space is limited for this popular event." The event page describes the ride as "the same program you love with new lights!" and promotes "100+ new displays." Tickets are sold online through the county parks registration system, and limited space plus a single date means registering early matters more for this night than for any other.

Five days later, those same displays become the backdrop for the regular season.

November 27 Onward: The Flat Rate Rewards a Full Car

The Festival of Lights runs nightly from November 27 through January 1. Patrons enter on Route 202, at the park's 301 Watkins Park Drive address in Upper Marlboro. The entrance opens at 5:30 p.m. and closes at 9:30 p.m. nightly.

The detail that shapes a drive-through night is how the county prices it. Admission is a flat rate by vehicle type, "determined by the average seating capacity of a standard vehicle of that model... and not the actual number of passengers on board." A standard car is $20 whether one person is inside or five. With five people that's $4 each, cheaper per person than Bikes and Lights. With one, it's $20 per person, four times the per-rider price of Bikes and Lights.

The rest of the rate card follows the same logic.

• Standard car: $20
• 7 to 14 passenger vehicles such as a Winnebago or limo: $80
• 15-passenger shuttle bus: $80
• 16+ passenger bus or PGCPS bus: $240
• Commission car or van: $20; Commission shuttle bus: $40

Anyone thinking about a group outing should know three more rules. Coach buses are not permitted because of the lighting structures and safety precautions, though school buses are allowed. Limos and 15-passenger buses must be reserved by emailing [email protected]. All admission is paid at the gate, with cash and cards both accepted.

The Wagon Ride Is the Car-Free Option That Lasts All Season

When November 22 has passed, a wagon ride is the only way to see the lights without a windshield in the way. The county's page promises "the same hayrides you love," and it books them differently from car admission.

1. Tickets are sold online only, at $15 per adult and $10 per child.
2. Plan to arrive at the gate one hour before your reservation time.
3. Missed or canceled reservations are not refunded.

The second rule changes how the evening runs. The gate opens at 5:30, so the earliest reservations mean being in the Route 202 line close to opening time. Combine the one-hour lead with the no-refund policy, and a wagon ride works best on a night when the schedule has nothing else in it.

Same Days, Daylight Hours: Gingerbread at Darnall's Chance

The festival's opening weekend overlaps with another holiday tradition in Upper Marlboro. The Annual Gingerbread House Contest & Show at Darnall's Chance Historic Site & Museum, 14800 Governor Oden Bowie Drive, opens Friday, November 27, the same day as the drive-through. This year's theme is "A Sweet Salute to America's 250th," which the museum describes as honoring "250 years of American history through edible artistry."

The show is open noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $2 per person, and children 4 and under get in free. Its dates are Fridays through Sundays only:

• November 27, 28 and 29
• December 4, 5 and 6
• December 11, 12 and 13

The show closes at 5 p.m. and the Festival of Lights entrance opens at 5:30, so the two fit into one outing on any of those nine days. For a family of four in one car, gingerbread plus lights comes to $28, with any kids 4 and under free at Darnall's Chance. With out-of-town guests arriving for Thanksgiving, Friday, November 27 is the first day both are open. For a sit-down dinner between them, Michael's Restaurant is at 14601 Main Street in town.

Bring Something for the Bin, and Save New Year's Day

Throughout the season, the festival is collecting hats, scarves, gloves and socks to donate to neighboring shelters. The county notes that donations do not guarantee admission. A bag of winter accessories fits easily in the back seat on a drive-through night.

The season ends with what amounts to a thank-you. Admission is free on New Year's Day, Friday, January 1, 2027. The rule on gate purchases and the flat rate both stop mattering that night, since nobody pays. On the Watkins Regional Park page, Trot for a Turkey, Bikes and Lights and the Festival of Lights are all listed among the park's events, so the full sequence of walk, ride, drive and the free New Year's Day is on one county calendar.

Over 40 years, the Festival of Lights has become part of how Upper Marlboro marks the season. Knowing a place well enough to catch its walk and bike nights is the same local knowledge Cheantae Lewis brings to pricing homes here. If friends or family at your holiday table start asking what your home near Watkins might be worth, get your free home valuation and you'll have a real number to give them before the 40th season wraps up.