The Festival of Lights Parade is downtown Colorado Springs' holiday season opener — an evening parade of illuminated floats, marching bands, and dance groups moving down Tejon Street in front of one of the city's biggest sidewalk crowds of the year.
It's a nighttime, early-December, mountain-town parade: dress like you mean it and it's magic; underdress and it's a long cold hour.
The parade runs down Tejon Street through the heart of downtown in the evening, with lit floats and performing groups. Families begin claiming curb space in the afternoon; the blocks near the middle of the route fill first.
Blankets, layers, hand warmers, and hot drinks from the downtown coffee shops are standard equipment. The move with young kids: arrive close to start time at the parade's tail end of the route, where space lasts longer and you can retreat to a warm car quickly.
Downtown makes a full evening of it — restaurants fill before the parade and the holiday lights around Acacia Park and the surrounding blocks carry the mood after. It pairs naturally with an Electric Safari trip in the same season.
Keep planning
It traditionally opens the holiday season in early December, in the evening on downtown's Tejon Street. Check the live listings on this page for the current year.
Yes — it's a free public parade. Arrive early for curb space in the central blocks, or aim for the ends of the route for a later arrival.
Plan for sub-freezing by the time it ends — an early-December evening in Colorado Springs commonly drops into the 20s. Blankets and hand warmers are standard local equipment.