Light Displays to Make Your Holiday Brighter

Lighting For A Cause

The 20th annual Roper Mountain Holiday Lights is open beginning Thanksgiving and will brighten up the Greenville skyline through Dec. 30.

More than 80,000 people visited the lights display last year, which also features an interactive Winter Wonderland with Santa Claus and his sleigh, lighted walking trails, balloon artist, giant holiday greeting cards, concessions and more.

Sponsored each year by the Rotary Club of Greenville and the Roper Mountain Science Center Association, the light display helps raise hundreds of dollars for children's charities in the Upstate.

The display opens each evening at 6 p.m. and runs through 10 p.m.

Admisson: Car, Minivan or SUV: $10; Activity Vans: $20; Buses: $40. A mult-car pass good for three visits is $21.

Festival of Trees

St. Francis Foundation Holiday Festival of Trees will open beginning Friday and run through Dec. 27.

The trees, which are decorated as part of a fundraiser for the St. Francis Foundation, are on display at Hyatt Regency, Courtyard Marriott, Hampton Inn and Suites- Riverplace, Falls Park and the Piazza Bergamo.

Admission is free. For more information, call 255-1257 or visit the foundation's website.

A Tiny Town

A tiny village that warms the hearts of visitors is hidden in Easley.

Created in 1974 and dubbed the name Tiny Town, this light display is one-of-a-kind. Located at 555 Latham Road in Easley, the light display is free to visit, but donations are accepted at the wishing well at the site to help keep the lights on.

Opening each year on Thanksgiving, the lights stay on from 5:30 to 10 p.m. nightly through Jan. 1. The tiny buildings include a church, McDonald's and a fire station.

Race Through the Holiday

Get your motor running and make a pit stop at Greenville-Pickens Speedway to check out the Christmas lights.

The display is open beginning Friday and runs through Christmas eve.

Hours are 6 to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 6 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is $10 per car.

Ice-skating is available on Fridays and Saturdays for $5 per person.

For more information, call the track at 864-269-0852 or visit them on Facebook.

Worth the drive

The 2011 Holiday Lights Safari Hollywild Animal Park in Wellford opened on Nov. 19 and will brighten the night sky through Jan. 1.

The event runs nightly, including holidays, from 6-9 p.m. with extended hours on weekends.

The site features 100 acres decorated with millions of twinkling lights, holiday themes, light sculptures, a life-sized Nativity, live animals, Santa and his elf.

Admission is $6 per person and is free to children under the age 2.