![\"Prairie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4BAD77C7C91F62157E6222F6537772A6.jpg\")
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GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – As Prairie Lights prepares to open for its 20th anniversary season, organizers say visitors can expect the holiday tradition to return bigger, brighter and more elaborate than ever.<\/p>\n
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20 years of Prairie Lights <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
The two-mile drive-through display at Lynn Creek Park on Joe Pool Lake features more than 5 million lights. The city begins building the attraction in September to ensure it\u2019s ready for its Thanksgiving night debut, according to Emily Linares, the special events manager for the Grand Prairie Parks, Arts and Recreation Department.<\/p>\n
The annual event leads visitors through themed lands and storylines created entirely with choreographed light displays. The 20th anniversary brought added pressure to deliver something new, said designer Josh Barnett, owner of Lightasmic, who has built Prairie Lights\u2019 installations since 2011.<\/p>\n
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Some of the attractions\u2019 largest features, including the popular light tunnel, have been expanded and reprogrammed. The route ends at the walk-through Holiday Village, which includes concessions, shops and photos with Santa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New features and the designer’s vision <\/p>\n
What they’re saying:<\/p>\n
“Even if you\u2019ve been coming the last 19 years, you’re getting a brand-new experience this year,” Linares said. “Prairie Lights is all about creating those traditions with your family.”<\/p>\n
“What\u2019s going to make it special for them in year 20? We really put a lot of thought into it,” Barnett said.<\/p>\n
Barnett said the displays use LED rope lighting to create a cleaner and more modern appearance.<\/p>\n
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“I love driving through, incognito, with my windows down just listening to people as they make comments and ooh and ahh at everything, it\u2019s the greatest,” said Barnett.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Come out here, have a good time,\u00a0 forget about what’s going on right now just have time with your family and feel joy.”<\/p>\n
Local perspective:<\/p>\n
While the 20th anniversary brings upgrades, Linares said the goal remains the same.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019ve been in operation for 20 years because we create those special memories for people,” she said.<\/p>\n
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Dates and admission for Prairie Lights <\/p>\n
Dig deeper:<\/p>\n
Admission is $50 per vehicle. Gates open November 27 at 6 p.m. nightly through New Year\u2019s Eve, with the lights operating until about 10 p.m.<\/p>\n
The Source: Information in this article was provided from interviews conducted \u00a0by FOX 4’s Amelia Jones.<\/p>\n
Holidays<\/a>Grand Prairie<\/a>Dallas County<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – As Prairie Lights prepares to open for its 20th anniversary season, organizers say visitors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,581,1279,1972,223,216,393],"class_list":{"0":"post-66896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news","11":"tag-dallas-county","12":"tag-grand-prairie","13":"tag-holidays","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}