Take The 2024 Patch Tour O' Holiday Lights

ACROSS ILLINOIS — They’re hauling out the holly, the plastic blow molds, LED lights and synchronized music from Cary to Oswego to Glencoe and all the way out to Peotone. Why? Because we all need a little Christmas.

We've rounded up the best reader-submitted residential holiday light displays in Chicagoland. From towering reindeer and illuminated flamingos to the most outlandish Clark W. Griswold displays that can be seen from space, these spectacular light displays are definitely worth a visit.

A few of you got so excited that you forgot to include your address. Some sent their address but forgot to put in their town, so check your email. Send us some photos and/or links to videos of your Christmas light display. We prefer that the homeowner submit his or her own yard, or an immediate neighbor or close relative.

We’ll be updating the list with new displays every Friday through Dec. 24, so keep an eye on your daily morning newsletters and your favorite Patch Facebook pages. Email your photos and a description to lorraine.swanson@patch.com. Don’t forget to include your address and enjoy the 2024 Tour o’ Holiday Lights.

Set your GPS and explore displays near your town, or go completely nuts and visit all of them.

COOK COUNTY

Bridgeview

NEW! Pavel , 7416 S Octavia Ave, Bridgeview – Mr. Griswold of Bridgeview, aka as Jim Pavel, has moved back to his childhood home. His family has hung holiday lights for over 70 years, and he helped his grandfather set up lights as a kid. Mr. Griswold’s light display is a combination of store-bought and homemade decorations. A computerized light show is synchronized to several Christmas songs, broadcast on a radio station so you can enjoy it from the warmth of your car. Over the years, he's added a quartet of singing Christmas trees. The display runs nightly from 4 to 10 p.m. Btw, Jim has helped five neighbors hang their lights this year.

Country Club Hills

Whoville, 4735 182nd Place, County Club Hills – Dan Porter has taken his show on the road from Hazel Crest to his new digs in County Club Hills.

Countryside

NEW! Experience the Magic of Lights On Dawn, 6650 Dawn Ave., Countryside – Join the Harper family for a dazzling holiday light show featuring over 20,000 twinkling lights synchronized to an enchanting selection of music. The family-friendly playlist includes a delightful mix of beloved classics, festive fun songs, and heartfelt tunes that remind us of the true reason for the season. Lit Sunday through Thursday the show starts at 4:30 p.m. and the last show of the night is at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, the last show starts at 11:30 p.m. Shows run about 23 mins in length, although more may be added before the end of the season!

Crestwood

NEW! 13336 Leclaire Ave. Crestwood – The Wysocki family presents a beautifully composed holiday set-up.

NEW! Candy Cane Lane, 4951 W. 135th Place, Crestwood – Santa waves from high above to welcome everyone to the Gorney/Liescke Family award-winning display. Take a stroll under the lighted archways and experience everything Merry and Bright at the North Pole.

Elk Grove Village

Jand Claus Magical Christmas Lane, 1417 Armstrong Lane, Elk Grove Village — Come see Jandy Claus’ magical Christmas land with candy canes, Rudolph, tons of lights, Santa flying high in a sleigh a cop car decked out for Christmas and much more.

LaGrange

NEW! 509 S Ashland Ave, La Grange – All of South Ashland Ave from 47th Street to Plainfield is worth checking out. At least 29 gigantic Santas along the street.

Lemont

NEW! Kiddie Academy of Lemont, 15907 127th St., Lemont – Kiddie Academy is all decked out for holidays. Tune into 94.5 FM for family-friendly programming.

Chuchla Family Lights, 12032 Center Drive, Lemont — A fun Christmas light show synchronized to music. The show runs through Jan. 6: from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The show runs until at least to 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve, so you can enjoy it after midnight church services. Tune your car radio to 95.1 FM to hear the music. The show runs continuously in a 70-minute loop with an eight-minute intermission between each loop.

Lit Lemont, 13760 Kettering Parkway, Lemont – Massimo DiSabato has put together a dazzling display of lights and colors that promises to bring joy and holiday spirit to all who visit. This year he’s introducing a new jukebox app, so people can play their favorite Christmas songs while enjoying the light show. Massimo has set up a GoFundMe campaign for Gigi’s Playhouse of Tinley Park.

LaGrange Park

Foushi's Colassal Christmas Inflatables, 1201 Alima Terrace, LaGrange Park — We love Big Mike the Inflatable King's multiple massive, 20-foot inflatables "reaching higher than any child's imagination," Big Mike says. The display is a few blocks from Brookfield Zoo. Definitely worth a visit if you're going to the zoo's holiday lights. The Inflatable King is also holding a food drive through Dec. 20.

Northfield

1655 Orchard Lane, Northfield – Charles Orth’s majestic display features lights wrapped around tree limbs and a candy cane border. He uses combination of big ladders and a homemade device to get way up there.

Oak Forest

6825 156th St., Oak Forest — Don and Laynee of Spectrewaves Paranormal have been a regular feature on the Patch Tour o' Scary Yards. They're flipping it over to a whole holiday display featuring oversized ornaments.

Oak Lawn

NEW! Plude Lane, 9602 S 54th Ave., Oak Lawn – Tune your radio to 88.7 FM and listen to the music as you watch your favorite Christmas movies.

Gem on 51st, 9143 S. 51st Ave., Oak Lawn – We love Angel Martinez’s cozy little display. The roof is inspired by Gems.

Orland Hills

16551 Brigitte Court, Orland Hills — Welcome to the Krueger Christmas Light Show where the trees talk and sing. Tune into 90.3FM on your car radio and enjoy the show. The lights start twinkling from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 10 p.m. Friday.

Orland Park

17404 Deer Creek Drive, Orland Park – It wouldn’t be a Patch holiday tour o’ lights without Yvonne and Ralph Shurley. The Shurleys have packed up the Halloween decorations and put up their massive collection of Christmas decor. This year they’ve added the rare 10-foot tall Bumble, the abominable snowman from Rudolph. He is huge and fuzzy and growls. Their massive yard display also features a life-size gingerbread house, and a dancing Santa standing at his cocoa booth, an 8.5-foot-tall reindeer, dancing snowman and a yard full of life-size nutcrackers, lollipops, and numerous other lit features. The display is lit nightly from 5 to 10 p.m.

Blow Mold Mania, 14601 Poplar Court, Orland Park — No inch of the Harske family’s lawn is left bare in this shiny display, which is covered by over 300 vintage and new blow molds, ruled by a 10-foot-tall snowman and Christmas tree. The newest addition is an 8-person choir. "A blowmold Christmas”, has been growing every year we love to see the joy and smiles it brings to everyone that comes and visits. With over 350 blowmolds on display, this display will take you back from the very first Christmas blow molds to the newest to date of all different varieties of Santa’s, Snowman, Disney characters and even a choir. Come out and see what we have added this year!" Lights are on every day from dusk to 11:30 p.m. The family has added some new ones. We think the Harskes should call a blow mold war with Patrick Coyne’s "Blow Mold Nation" in Tinley Park.

15441 Sunset Ridge Drive, Orland Park – John Quinn offers up his amazing collection of blow molds. At last tally, John counted 383 blow molds, 97 tinsel light figures, seven inflatables, 70 gum drops, trees, music and more. We don't know he has any geese-a-laying.

Palatine

Eagle Extravaganza, 600 N. Eagle Lane, Palatine – On Fridays and Saturdays until Christmas, from 7-8:30 pm The Grinch will be passing out candy canes and taking photos. The light show plays to music on 88.1 FM. All week long, there is a bucket of candy canes available for people to take.

844 E. Sayles Drive, Palatine – It takes the Drumond family almost two weeks to put up their lights and decorations. Beth Drumond’s husband is known as the Clark Griswold of the neighborhood.

Tinley Park

7702 Hanover Drive, Tinley Park — This award-winning display done entirely by an 18-year-old senior at Andrew High School features a life-size sleigh with Santa on the driveway and Jack Skellington available for pictures, handmade decorations, mechanical doll window display, tunnel of lights, and lights dancing across the roof. Eric has added new features, including an airplane on the roof, an Alvin and the Chipmunks bench, and the garage display and five life-size animatronic characters. Lights dance across the roof, along with a 20-foot-tall mega tree, a Christmas train and village layout, a nativity scene, vintage blow molds, and much more. Lights are on from 4:45-10:30 daily.

NEW! 17726 Highland Ave, Tinley Park – And the circle of blown molds and inflatables shall remain unbroken in Joe Pudlowski's winter wonderland.

Blow Mold Nation, 17037 Creekside Ave, Tinley Park – Omg! We love Patrick Coyne’s “Blow Mold Nation” in Tinley Park. His display features over 125 blow mold figurines in his yard, presided over by a 20-foot tall inflatable Santa. He keeps adding pieces every year and turns his kids’ play houses into display pieces. This year, he’s added ten new blow molds, some light trees and a 15-foot elf to the mix.

DUPAGE COUNTY

Aurora

222 Lawndale Ave, Aurora – Doc Harrington’s holiday house is an inflatable miracle.

NEW! Aurora Symphony of Lights, 1293 Yellowpine Drive, Aurora – Woo whoo! Bobbie Seaberg’s fun, dancing light show is back, featuring extremely upbeat, traditional music, and some just for the kids or kids at heart, located on the Kane County side of town. Two shows are set up to play on alternating days through New Year’s Day. Twinkles from 5 to 10ish. Check out their shows on Facebook.

Darien

NEW! The Walkers, 7809 Farmingdale Drive, Darien — There are over 20k lights and 50 blow molds. "The goal was to create a house that I would have wanted to drive by every night. Growing up in the 90s gives a lot of credence to how I decorate. I don’t care for inflatables, and there is something special about blow molds. I do have candy cane arches. And I like bright lights that make sense and isn’t cluttered. One year I will be able to get a synchronized light show, but that will be in the future.”

Downers Grove

NEW! Winter Wonderland, 2308 College Road, Downers Grove – Diane Duncan’s whimsical holiday display has everything from inflatables and music for the family to enjoy to trees draped in white and blue lights. The yard twinkles from 5 to 9 p.m. daily through New Year’s Day, weather permitting for the inflatables. Diane tells us her whole block is crazy with lights.

Santa’s Wonderland, 5738 Washington St., Downers Grove – This winter wonderland with over 100 Christmas decorations including vintage blow molds.

5725 Aubrey Terrace, Downers Grove – Twelve years ago, Jeff Gallo started with nothing more than a vision. That first holiday season was modest, but it caught the attention of my neighbors. Jeff went bigger the next year and in his display’s eighth year, he started entering contests and even started winning regional awards. “Now, 12 years later, my display has become a national phenomenon. It’s still surreal to think about how far this has come. What started as a simple pairing of 40w incandescent soft white bulbs has grown into a tradition that brings people together, and spreads more holiday magic every year,” Jeff says. Santa's not going to have any problem finding Jeff's house.

Elmhurst

NEW! 760 Willow Road, Elmhurst – David Imundo has more Santa blow molds on his lawn than you can shake a stick at! David is also a blow mold expert. The Santa in front of the picture window is a vintage LA Goodman Vacucell Polk Bros Santa The original Jolly Polk Santas are much to fragile to display outside these days. The Santas standing sentry on the front step are from the General Foam Co. made in the 70s. Mind blowing!

Mathias Family Christmas Spectacular, 355 Sherman Ave, Elmhurst – The display is a synchronized light show. The music will be transmitted over 90.5FM. The entire synchronized light show was conceived, choreographed, and programmed by 14-year-old Jade Mathias. Music will be transmitted over 90.5FM. Lights run from 4:30 to 9 p.m. daily.

413 East Huntington Lane, Elmhurst – Dr. Seuss himself would love Glenn McCarthy’s Grinch-y display, comprised of wooden cutouts and an authentic thirty-nine-and-a-foot pole! There is a nice light display too. “The first year all I put out was the pole and with the sign. Only 1 in 10 got it. The second year, I added Grinch and Max. This year I added the presents and ornament to Grinch and Max, the growing heart X-ray and the roast beast feast.” This year Glenn has still added more stuff, including texts from songs and more lights. The Grinch will be passing out treats to the little Who's that come by from 7:30-8:30 on Saturdays. We’re still laughing about the 39-and-a-half-foot pole.

NEW! Holly Jolly Christmas, 637 Maywood Lane, Lisle – The Geist family has two 20 -foot reindeer and lots of Santa’s friends with lights, Here is a picture before they got the second deer! Lights will be on from dusk to around 11:30 p.m. until about Jan. 5.

Naperville

NEW! Faith House, 1109 E. Bailey Rd. Naperville – Follow the lights in the sky! Once you spot Naperville's tallest reindeer Bailey and Fender, you know you are in for a fun holiday experience. Run through the brilliant arches to Candy Cane Lane and past Penguin Pond and say hello to Santa and Mrs. Claus on Saturday Dec 14 from 5 to 8pm. Frosty, the Nutcrackers and Hugging Teddy Bear are all waiting to meet everyone. Display and the beautiful big FAITH sign will be lit daily from 5 to 10pm until Jan 6.

217 N. West St., Naperville – A lovely Christmas composition in Naperville.

905 Appomattox Circle, Naperville – During the pandemic, Jeff Danborn and his kids built the lighted archways. Last year, they convinced their neighbor to let them extend the arch over the adjoining sidewalk. Jeff loves seeing kids running through the archway while their parents film them loving the moment.

Goodwin Family Christmas Display, 209 W 8th Ave, Naperville – Lighting up the yard is a long-standing tradition started by Shea Goodwin’s dad 25 years ago. Many of the same decorations are still being used today. Shea has been continuously adding new decorations each year.

Winfield

NEW! Mr. Holiday’s House, 0N068 Robbins St., Winfield – Kids ask their parents to drive by Ryan and Bridget’s massive collection of vintage blow molds. More decorations are added when the weather warms up. Ryan does some type of display for most major holidays, but Christmas is the showstopper). He’s got lots of mini-scenes/ sections this year: Candy Cane Lane, the Penguin patch, Christmas Choir, the toy soldier (military honors) display, the Nativity, and Santa & his Reindeer in a few different sections, including on the roof. “My husband just loves to decorate and has really gotten into vintage blow molds for all the holidays, but especially Christmas.”

LAKE COUNTY

Lake Forest

Deerpath Inn, Oakwood and Illinois, Lake Forest – There are 10,000 lights on six Chanticleer Pear trees on the iconic Deerpath Inn in Lake Forest. No sightings of partridges yet.

NEW! 470 Heather Lane, Lake Forest — Check out these beautifully lit trees in Lake Forest.

Mundelein

NEW! Lights on Tahoe Court, 25910 Tahoe Ct, Mundelein — Now in its 14th year of thrilling their neighbors at their current address, Patrick Fitzgibbons' light show features 16,000 pixels and 65,000 LED lights (and growing) over the front yard. The display features 2x 45' spruce trees wrapped with 30,000 LED lights, a 20'x8' Matrix and a 65' RGB light tunnel over our driveway with 8,000 lights. Show's alternate nightly between a classic christmas soundtrack and modern holiday music. Show runs continuously from 4:30-10pm nightly, listen on 88.7FM. Visitors are welcome to park/walk around in the driveway while enjoying the display.

McHENRY COUNTY

NEW! 2201 Country Lane, McHenry – Ted Ray has been lighting up his neighborhood with his Clark Griswold-inspired holiday lights since 2019. It started with 500 lights and increased to 4,750 lights last holiday season. In 2022, Ted acquired the most Griswold-like station wagon he could find, which he drives in parades and other community events. “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation” is a movie adored by many, but only truly embodied by a few special Christmas aficionados like Ted.

Santa and His Flamingos On The River, 637 Rawson Bridge Rd. Cary – Jennifer Thompson’s display by the Fox River has been up since the first week of November and will continue through the end of December. Santa is in a canoe led by flamingos, and the Christmas story is set up. “I incorporate living on the water with Christmas,” Jennifer says.

WILL COUNTY

Bolingbrook

419 Callery Drive, Bolingbrook – Jamie and Denise Gwin have decked out their law with multiple inflatables, candy canes and LOTS of lights. Hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Some nights feature music. On Dec. 14, weather permitting, the Gwins will have hot cocoa and cider while supplies last from 5 to 9 p.m.

Elwood

NEW! 19425 W. Mississippi Ave. (east of Route 53), Elwood – "A classic country Christmas spread over 2 1/2 acres, over 50 wire trees and accent lighting to delight and inspire."

Frankfort

NEW! Rudolph’s Winter Wonderland, 22177 Somerset Court, Frankfort — Lots of reindeer games going in Andy Pavlacka’s wonderful display, featuring inflatables and over 100 strings of lights, capped by a 15-foot inflatable Rudolph that may or may not be up, depending on weather conditions. The winter wonderland is lit from 4:30 to 10 p.m. through Jan. 1.

7901 Harvest Drive, Frankfort — A dazzling display in Frankfort.

Homer Glen

Psychedelic Lights, 14635 Saddle Brooke Lane, Homer Glen — Robert Szajkovics’ hallucinogenic synchronized light show goes on at dusk and runs to 10:30 p.m. His display features 45,000 lights dancing to 95.3 FM like Vegas.

NEW! Jacob’s Jingle Bells, 15230 W 139th St., Homer Glen – Karen Yanowsky says that in addition to their grandson, her husband’s yard display is his pride and joy. Their grandson helps set up their twinkling lights.

Joliet

3305 Caton Farm Road, Joliet – Mike Domagalski, yet again, worked really hard on his twinkling lights this year. “I know it would mean a lot to him to be added to the list again this year,” his wife, Kristan, told Patch.

NEW! 1201 Dearborn Street in Joliet – John Early knocks us out with his merry lights.

15310 S. Oak Run Court, Lockport — The Tobin family's light display features 40-plus vintage blow molds, Santa and reindeer on the roof, animated Disney characters and tons of lights. The display is on from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Manhattan

NEW! 24361 Shawnee Lane, Manhattan — The Hessers have a charming 3-D projection display that gets a fair amount of traffic. (They were also on Patch's tour of scary yards.) The display is designed on a computer by hand. Runs nightly from 6 to 10:30 p.m., with audio broadcast on FM radio. This year, they will be showing the complete “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” story, as well as scenes based on “The Polar Express” and “What’s this?” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and a Gingerbread House design. Clark Grisold will also make a cameo. The Hessers are collecting donations for misophonia research. Misophonia is a neurological disorder their daughter suffers from it, who has taken it upon herself to raise awareness and funding for research.

NEW! 24752 S Dart Rd, Manhattan – Nicole Miller’s yard is all decked out pretty for Christmas with some classic blow molds.

New Lenox

NEW! 1409 Nelson Road, New Lenox – Karen and Bob Russ have been expanding their display for over 20 years with handcrafted yard art, lighting and blow molds. In the past when there were display contests in our village, Bob and Karen have won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in different categories. “We take pride in our display and love when people stop and give us compliments. Every year there's a little something extra or change.”

NEW! 2079 Edgeview Drive, New Lenox – The Myslinski family presents a beautifully decorated, celebratory Christmas home with vibrant and colorful holiday lights. The tradition was started by Tori Myslinski’s father, Ernie. The multicolored lights outline the roof, windows, and other architectural features, creating a festive and cheerful display. The yard features illuminated decorations such as gingerbread figures, a snowman, and a countdown sign reading “Santa is 25 Days Away,” adding to the holiday spirit. Additional decorations include wreaths and glowing candy canes on the porch.

Holton Estate Winter Wonderland, 1910 Tessington Court, New Lenox – Stephanie Prince just loves decorating for Christmas inside and outside her home. Her display features a Santa Claus Countdown, two nutcrackers, a pair of Christmas trees, deer and a host of snowmen. The lights twinkle daily from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Peotone

Peotone Holiday Projections, 7350 W North Peotone Road, Peotone – Patch is happy to welcome back Matt Ringhofer's "Peotone Holiday Projections." Matt and his family have turned their house into a work of cinematic art. Their holiday projects were created with Adobe After Effects and projected with five projectors. Projection is from three perspectives with two projectors each stacked and optically/geometrically aligned. All projectors are sync'd with Falcon Pi Player. Shows run seven days a week, from 5:15 to 9 a.m., and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Due to the use of electronics, shows are weather permitting. The Ringhofers will do their best to update downtime on their Facebook page. For music, please tune to 87.9 FM. Here's a holiday earworm for you.

Plainfield

NEW! 12939 Notthland Drive, Plainfield

5311 Oakbrook Drive, Plainfield – Ray Bass’s cheerful yard is the hit of the neighborhood.

Plainfield Christmas, 12941 Greenfield Drive, Plainfield – Kent and Martha Kuper have a slick synchronized light show with eight songs that play in rotation, or you can vote from a link at PlainfieldChristmas. Also programmed are over 100 names that appear on the “mega tree.” Vote to show one of those names as well. If your kid’s name isn’t already programmed, email Kent at plainfieldchristmas@gmail.com and he’ll add it within a few days. The show runs from dusk until 10 p.m. daily. through New Year’s Eve. Some nights will include the music video projected onto the garage door. Tune to 106.1 FM. Check out the name “Camila” on the megatree in the video

The Disney House, 1915 Vermette Circle, Plainfield – It’s a small world after all at William and Tracy Szumacher’s house, who have their yard all decked out with Disney-themed inflatables and lights. Tracy created the Mickey Mouse light wreath. The display is usually lit from 4 p.m. till 9 or 10 p.m.

Santa Skelly, 24514 Tufton St., Plainfield – We think this is Jim Berlinger’s house because he forgot to indicate which town he lived in. Jim has put his 12-foot-tall Halloween skeleton to good use by dressing it up for the holidays. Santa Skelly is counting down the days until Christmas in this fun winter wonderland. He’s surrounded by thousands of twinkling lights, inflatable ornaments and pre-lit garland. Clark Griswold would be proud.

NEW! Chestnut Hill Lights, 1907 Chestnut Hill Road, Plainfield — There’s nothing we love more (besides vintage blow molds) than dancing lights. Eric Voelz’s beautiful display is set to holiday music, with some Bon Jovie, Taylor Swift and Journey thrown in. The lights change and move in sequence, along with two singing trees and an 18-foot Christmas tree. This year it's bigger and better. A variety of tunes from Christmas to rock have been added in 2024 including Bon Jovi, Imagine Dragons, Journey to Mariah Carey. Lights on daily from 5 to 10 p.m.

Shorewood

Williams Winter Wonderland, 1109 Butterfield Cir W, Shorewood – The Williams family has created a holiday wonderland rivaling Las Vegas. This is a static light display with all your Christmas favorites. The house is the multi-color dream of an avid Clark Griswold fan. The lawn is decked with a candy forest, your favorite Disney characters, and much more. Make sure to bring your letters to Santa, as there is a mailbox that magically transports letters daily!