By LOIS KINDLE
We’re all kids at heart, and many of us are fascinated by Christmas lighting and holiday-themed displays. We pile everyone in the car each year and drive around our neighborhoods, oohing and ahhing at every turn.
If this describes you and your family, you won’t want to miss the incredible Drive-Thru Christmas Light Show going on now through Jan. 1 at the Masonic Park & Youth Camp in Wimauma. The show takes place daily from 6 to 10 p.m.
Billed as “the most immersive drive-through Christmas experience on earth,” the event is a fundraiser presented by Shadrock’s Christmas Wonderland for the nonprofit park.
The massive, continuous holiday display uses cutting-edge technology to provide a unique, sensory experience of sight and sound. Park manager David Brigham said the show has 1.2 miles of between “1-million-plus lights synchronized with Christmas music.”
The Shadrack Christmas Wonderland’s Drive-Thru Christmas Light Show at the Masonic Park & Youth Camp will delight children of all ages. The drive-thru includes 1.2 miles of continuous lighting displays from 6 to 10 p.m. daily, now through Jan. 1.
The event also features up to 25 Jen’s Market vendors selling food, drinks and merchandise, including gift items and stocking stuffers, a snow machine, plus an area for kids to visit with Santa Claus and have their pictures taken with him.
Tickets are required and can be purchased online at www.shadrackchristmas.com or at the park gate, 10850 U.S. 301 S. The cost is $29.95 plus tax per carload of up to eight people, $59 for a church bus or minibus and $99 for a school or tour bus. Cash or credit cards are accepted at the gate.
Ken Wagner, of Gibsonton, recently saw the show with several family members and gave it a big thumbs up. He said it was worth the cost of admission.
SHADRACKCHRISTMAS.COM PHOTOS
The Masonic Park & Youth Camp is hosting Shadrack Christmas Wonderland’s Drive-Thru Christmas Light Show now through Jan. 1 in Wimauma. The event features more than a million lights and synchronized Christmas music, vendors, food and drink sales, snow machine and Santa Claus.
“The light show was very entertaining. It was a great family outing,” he added. “Our 2-year-old grandson loved it. We would definitely go again.”
Established in 1969 by the 16 Masonic lodges in Hillsborough County, the 204-acre Masonic Park and Youth Camp in Wimauma is managed by a park board and is open to the public.
The cost to attend the Shadrack Christmas Wonderland Drive-Thru Christmas Light Show at the Masonic Park & Youth Camp is $29.95 plus tax per carload of eight, $59 for a church bus or minibus and $99 for a school or tour bus. The event is a fundraiser for the park.
During the year, the park offers youth camping, canoeing and kayaking, hiking, horseback riding and ziplining. It is also open for recreational vehicle camping, corporate parties and church group activities. For more information, visit www.masonicparkflorida.com or call 813-634-1220. The park’s Facebook page is at facebook.com/masonicparkflorida/.
For a brief preview of the Drive-Thru Christmas Light Show at the Masonic Park & Youth Camp, visit www.shadrackchristmas.com and click on the video.