![\"KCRA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763764396_419_kcra.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSTUFF THEY\u2019RE GOING TO DO OUT THERE HAPPENING TONIGHT, A SACRAMENTO HOLIDAY SEASON TRADITION IS BACK WITH THE OPENING OF A NEW SEASON OF THE IMAGINARIUM. IT IS HOLIDAY LIGHT SHOW AND A WHOLE LOT OF FUN FOR THE FAMILY. ERIN HEFT JOINS US LIVE FROM CAL EXPO WITH OUR FIRST LOOK AT THIS YEAR\u2019S EXHIBIT. GOOD MORNING. ISN\u2019T THIS INCREDIBLE? THE THEME THIS YEAR, UTOPIA. TAKE A LOOK THROUGH THIS CANOPY OF INCREDIBLE FLOWERS THIS MORNING. YEAH, IT REALLY FITS ITS NAME. IF WE STAND UP, YOU HAVE TO WALK THROUGH IT. IT IS GORGEOUS. OVER 50 MILLION LIGHTS. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA\u2019S LARGEST HOLIDAY LIGHT SHOW. WE MAKE OUR WAY. HELLO, EVERYONE. WE HAVE TO WALK THROUGH IT. IT\u2019S QUITE MAGICAL. AND ON THE OTHER END OF THIS MAGIC IS DARLA. OKAY, SO TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS YEAR BECAUSE IT\u2019S INCREDIBLE. IT\u2019S MY FIRST TIME BEING HERE. I KNOW YOU SAID YOU ALWAYS SAW IT FROM THE OUTSIDE. WELL, WELCOME TO IMAGINARIUM. THIS YEAR, THE FOOTPRINT IS LARGER. WE\u2019RE TALKING MORE THAN 15 MILLION LIGHTS. THIS IS THE 14TH YEAR OF IMAGINARIUM HERE AT CAL EXPO. AND A NEW ENTRANCE AS WELL. COME THROUGH ENTRANCE AT HERITAGE AND YOU\u2019LL GET WELCOMED BY LIGHTS THERE. IT WAS SHOCKING WHEN WE PULLED UP THIS MORNING. OH MY GOODNESS, IT\u2019S STUNNING. SO OKAY TO ME BECAUSE LAST YEAR WE HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A RAIN DELAY. AND THIS YEAR IT\u2019S WE COULDN\u2019T HAVE ASKED FOR A BETTER FORECAST. KEEPING OUR FINGERS CROSSED. WE DID GET RAIN ON THURSDAY AND THEN LAST WEEK, SO THAT DELAYED A LITTLE BIT. BUT THEY\u2019RE PUTTING TOGETHER THE FINISHING TOUCHES. YOU KNOW IN ADDITION TO ALL OF THE LIGHTS WE ALSO HAVE A CIRCUS PERFORMANCE THREE TIMES A NIGHT. TEN GENERATIONS OF CIRCUS PERFORMERS. AND THEY HAVE A WATER SHOW THIS YEAR. SO I\u2019M EXCITED TO SEE THAT. YEAH. AND IT STARTS THIS EVENING. CORRECT. IT STARTS THIS EVENING. AND YOU CAN STILL GET YOUR EARLY BIRD FAMILY PASS OR A FUN PASS. IT\u2019S $36 THAT GETS YOU ADMISSION AND ALSO A RIDE WRISTBAND, UNLIMITED RIDES. SO WE DO HAVE CARNIVAL RIDES. WE HAVE FOOD. WE HAVE EVERYTHING HERE. TO MAKE YOUR HOLIDAY TRADITION. LOTS OF FUN, I LOVE IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH, DARLA. APPRECIATE ERIN SO BEAUTIFUL. SO FUN. YES. AND I MEAN, TAKE A LOOK. THIS IS JUST A TINY SNAPSHOT. WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE TO DO THE LIVE SHOT. IT\u2019S ENDLESS. AND THIS WOULD BE SHOCKING FOR ANY LITTLE BABIES OUT THERE. SO REALLY, A FUN FAMILY TRADITION ALL SET UP IN ONE PLACE. AND IT STARTS THIS EVENING AND RUNS THROUGH PART OF JANUARY, SO YOU HAVE TONS OF TIME TO GET IN ON IT. BACK TO YOU GUYS. ALL RIGHT. I\u2019M NOT SURE WE COULD HAVE FOUND A MORE PERFECT PERSON TO COVER THIS TODAY. YOU\u2019RE RIGHT AT HOME. I LOVE THE ENTHUSIASM. THANK YOU. ERIN. BY THE WAY, THE IMAGINARIUM IS OPEN T\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Imaginarium\u2019s \u2018Utopia\u2019: Northern California\u2019s largest holiday festival returns with 15 million lights<\/p>\n
Organizers say Utopia aims to be a \u201cperfect holiday escape.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tUpdated: 10:09 AM PST Nov 21, 2025\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\tEditorial Standards \u24d8<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\tImaginarium\u2019s Utopia, billed as Northern California\u2019s largest holiday light festival, returns to Cal Expo from Nov. 21, 2025, through Jan. 4, 2026, transforming the fairgrounds into a glowing wonderland powered by more than 15 million lights.This year\u2019s edition debuts an expanded footprint and a new entrance at Cal Expo\u2019s Main Gate at Exposition and Heritage, streamlining access for the season\u2019s crowds. Visitors can stroll through illuminated tunnels, step into mirror rooms, glide across a covered ice rink, snap photos with Santa, and cap the night with carnival rides and festive food and drink along Food Court Row near the waterpark.Organizers say Utopia aims to be a \u201cperfect holiday escape,\u201d where families and couples can make new traditions in a setting designed for dazzling photos and spirited nights out. Imaginarium traces its roots to the team behind the first U.S. Chinese Lantern Festival at Great America in 2011. The concept evolved into Global Winter Wonderland, which opened at Cal Expo in 2014, and later into Imaginarium, which organizers say is the largest holiday light festival in the country. The brand now spans multiple locations across California and Arizona.Learn more about tickets here. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tSACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Imaginarium\u2019s Utopia, billed as Northern California\u2019s largest holiday light festival, returns to Cal Expo from Nov. 21, 2025, through Jan. 4, 2026, transforming the fairgrounds into a glowing wonderland powered by more than 15 million lights.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s edition debuts an expanded footprint and a new entrance at Cal Expo\u2019s Main Gate at Exposition and Heritage, streamlining access for the season\u2019s crowds. <\/p>\n Visitors can stroll through illuminated tunnels, step into mirror rooms, glide across a covered ice rink, snap photos with Santa, and cap the night with carnival rides and festive food and drink along Food Court Row near the waterpark.<\/p>\n Organizers say Utopia aims to be a \u201cperfect holiday escape,\u201d where families and couples can make new traditions in a setting designed for dazzling photos and spirited nights out. <\/p>\n Imaginarium traces its roots to the team behind the first U.S. Chinese Lantern Festival at Great America in 2011. <\/p>\n The concept evolved into Global Winter Wonderland, which opened at Cal Expo in 2014, and later into Imaginarium, which organizers say is the largest holiday light festival in the country. <\/p>\n The brand now spans multiple locations across California and Arizona.<\/p>\n Learn more about tickets here<\/a>. <\/p>\n See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STUFF THEY\u2019RE GOING TO DO OUT THERE HAPPENING TONIGHT, A SACRAMENTO HOLIDAY SEASON TRADITION IS BACK WITH THE…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2691,11273,38664,38666,27317,38660,38661,38662,11836,38665,1869,266,1562,2824,121,123,122,278,38663,12382],"class_list":["post-64351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-cal-expo","tag-crowd","tag-exposition","tag-heritage","tag-holiday-lights","tag-imaginarium","tag-imaginarium-festival","tag-large-holiday-festival-return","tag-light","tag-main-gate","tag-night","tag-northern-california","tag-organizer","tag-photo","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-season","tag-utopia","tag-visitor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}