Loveland still has a big holiday light display at Chapungu Sculpture Park. The difference is who runs it. On Friday, Nov. 13, the switch gets flipped at 5995 Sky Pond Drive again, this time as part of Centerra's "A Very Centerra Holiday." That's two years after Visit Loveland ran its last Winter Wonderlights in the same park.
What changed is how the season is organized. One tourism office used to produce one festival. Now several organizers run their own pieces, and Visit Loveland mostly promotes them. If you're planning November and December around lights, you're now working from three or four calendars.
Why Visit Loveland Stepped Back
Visit Loveland is the City of Loveland's destination marketing organization, and it's funded by lodging tax. It announced on Aug. 21, 2025, that Winter Wonderlights would not return. In the press release, the organization said the festival started with grant funding to bring in overnight visitors who would stay, shop and dine across Loveland, "not just on the eastern edge of the city." It also said that over the years the event became especially popular with local residents.
So the festival was built for out-of-town guests, and locals ended up as its biggest audience. The decision drew on a tourism marketing study, geofence data from past festivals and a visitor survey. All three pointed toward promoting events rather than putting them on. Charles Lammers, Visit Loveland's tourism marketing manager, said in the release that the goal was "focusing more on promoting Loveland's existing holiday and year-round offerings and less on producing large-scale annual events ourselves."
Visit Loveland also said it looked for other organizations or businesses to take over the festival and found "no sustainable path forward." The Coloradoan reported in November 2025 that the event had gone dark after eight years.
Same Park, Different Producer
Nobody took over Winter Wonderlights itself. Instead, Centerra put on its own show in the same place. The 2025 Flip the Switch listing described "a dazzling new display of holiday lights." It covered Chapungu Sculpture Park, The Promenade Shops at Centerra, The Marketplace at Centerra, the Centerra Motorplex, the Highway 34 corridors, and the Kinston and Lakes neighborhoods.
The groups behind it are mostly Centerra's own. A Very Centerra Holiday is presented by the Centerra Engagement Assembly, working with the Centerra Metropolitan Districts, the Centerra Commercial Owners Association and The Promenade Shops at Centerra. Visit Loveland is listed as a collaborator, and the Loveland Reporter-Herald and Townsquare Media as supporters. Visit Loveland still has a hand in the lights, but as a partner rather than the producer.
This is the second year of the new arrangement, and it lands on a milestone. Centerra's holiday page notes that 2026 is its 25th anniversary, which makes this its 25th holiday season.
The 2026 Calendar, by Organizer
Here's the season as currently posted, along with who runs each event:
| Date | Event | Where | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 13, 5–7 p.m. | Flip the Switch Ceremony | Chapungu Sculpture Park | Centerra |
| Nov. 13 – Jan. 1, daily | All Is Bright Tour | Chapungu and sites across Centerra | Centerra |
| Fri., Nov. 20, 5–8 p.m. | Festival of Lights | Fourth Street, downtown | Downtown Loveland District |
| Thu., Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m. | Kalani Peʻa, "Hawaiian Christmas" | Rialto Theater, 228 E. 4th St. | Rialto Theater Center |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. | Santa's Workshop holiday market | Loveland Visitor Center | Visit Loveland |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Christmas Cards Printmaking | Loveland Museum | Loveland Museum |
| Dec. 11, 12 and 19 | Santa's Home for the Holidays | Promenade Shops at Centerra | Centerra |
| Sat., Dec. 12, 4–5:30 p.m. | Sleigh Bell Shuffle | Chapungu Sculpture Park | Centerra with Sweetheart City Racing |
| Dec. 12–31, 5–8 p.m. | Christmas Walk in the Woods | 1750 Savage Road | Christmas Walk in the Woods |
| Thu., Dec. 17, 6–8 p.m. | Holiday Music Bingo & Ugly Sweater Party | Kinston Hub | Centerra |
| Fri., Dec. 18, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. | Free admission day | Loveland Museum | Loveland Museum |
Look at the "Run by" column. Visit Loveland hosts exactly one event, the Dec. 5 market, and Centerra lists even that one on its own holiday page. That's the promote-don't-produce approach from the 2025 release, playing out a year later.
Two Lighting Nights, One Week Apart
The season opens with two separate lighting events on back-to-back Fridays, at opposite ends of town.
At Chapungu on Nov. 13, Centerra's "Light of the Community" honoree flips the switch, with carolers, cocoa and a giant snow-globe photo op. Then the All Is Bright Tour starts. It begins at the park's signature display, Chapungu Illuminated, and continues past lighted homes and businesses around Centerra, with cocoa stations along the way for a dollar a cup. Centerra has posted a tour map. Last season the Reporter-Herald listed the tour as free and running nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. Centerra's 2026 page gives the dates but not hours or admission.
Downtown on Nov. 20, the Downtown Loveland District holds its Festival of Lights on Fourth Street, the stretch that reopened this summer after the long Fourth Street construction. The district lists a tree-lighting ceremony, live entertainment, reindeer, a holiday market, carriage rides and Mr. and Mrs. Claus. The evening also includes Floats on Fourth, a parade where the floats stay parked on Fourth Street between Lincoln and Washington and performers move through the crowd. The district estimates 8,000 to 10,000 people came in 2025.
The district hasn't posted a 2026 tree-lighting time or admission terms yet. Last year the Reporter-Herald put the tree lighting at 7:30 p.m. at Foundry Plaza, and Visit Loveland's 2025 guide described the festival as free and open to the public. Treat both as last year's details until the 2026 schedule is out.
A Display to Check On Before You Go
One light display from last season isn't on the calendar above. When Visit Loveland ended Winter Wonderlights, it said it would bring back the 12 Days of Christmas lighted display at Dwayne Webster Veterans Park, and it did for 2025. The Reporter-Herald reported that the Winter Holiday Council sponsored it and Visit Loveland crews installed it. The 2025 guide listed it as free, Nov. 21 through Jan. 1, 5 to 9 p.m. Those are last season's details, so confirm this year's dates with Visit Loveland before you head over.
Planning the Season Around Several Calendars
With the season spread across separate organizers, it helps to plan it in order:
- Start at Chapungu on Nov. 13 if you want to see the lights come on. The All Is Bright Tour runs every day through Jan. 1, so you can skip the crowd and go another night.
- Save Nov. 20 for downtown. Festival of Lights is a single evening, 5 to 8 p.m., and the tree lighting is its only time slot.
- Book the ticketed events early. Breakfast with Santa at the Promenade Shops on Dec. 12 and 19 is ticketed. The Rialto's "Hawaiian Christmas" is $55, or $65 for Premier seats. The Loveland Museum's printmaking workshop is $100 for nonmembers and $80 for members.
- Pick a night at Christmas Walk in the Woods. It runs Dec. 12 through 31 from 5 to 8 p.m., closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Lights-only admission is $7 per person, and kids five and under get in free. Special nights cost $14 for ages 11 and up and $7 for ages 10 and under, with Dickens Carolers on Dec. 12 and 21 through 23 and Tubas at Christmas on Dec. 19 and 20.
- Get your steps in at Chapungu on Dec. 12. The Sleigh Bell Shuffle is a one-mile loop around the lit park, and registration goes through Sweetheart City Racing.
- Finish at the museum on Dec. 18. The Loveland Museum has free admission that Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
After New Year's, the next big downtown celebration is the Sweetheart Festival, which Visit Loveland has set for Feb. 12–13, 2027.
Centerra's event-detail pages and downloadable schedule still show some 2025 dates, so use its main holiday page for this year's times.
Chapungu lights up again on Nov. 13. If you're also thinking about which part of town fits your next chapter, whether that's close to the Fourth Street festivities or within walking distance of Centerra's displays, I'd be glad to talk it through with you over a cup of cocoa. Reach out to Melissa Worth and let's connect.
