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Christmas lights season in New Jersey runs from the weekend before Thanksgiving through the first week of January, and Morris County gets two very different versions of it. There are the town tree lightings, which are free, walkable, and usually finished in ninety minutes. Then there are the big drive-through shows, which are ticketed, take an hour in the car, and are worth the gas.
Here is where to go for both. We update this page through the season as towns confirm their dates, so anything below marked as not yet announced will be filled in as soon as it is official. For everything happening before the lights go up, see our guide to fall festivals and fairs in Morris County and our running list of things to do in Morris County this weekend.
Confirmed for 2026
Lighting of the Morristown Green
Morristown Green, Morristown. Saturday, November 28, 2026. Free. Santa arrives and the Green gets lit, which is the official start of the Morristown Partnership’s Christmas Festival on the Green. It is the largest tree lighting in the county by attendance and the easiest one to build a whole evening around, since the restaurants on South Street and Speedwell Avenue are all within a short walk. If you are making a night of it, our guide to the best restaurants in Morristown is a good place to start.
Skylands Stadium Christmas Light Show and Village
94 Championship Place, Augusta. November 22, 2026 through January 3, 2027, 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. $29 per carload, VIP $79. This is the big one, about fifty minutes from most of Morris County. The drive runs a mile through more than two million lights, and the price is per car rather than per person, so a full car is the cheapest way to do it. Tickets are sold in fifteen minute timed slots and have to be bought online ahead of time, which matters on December weekends because the slots go. The Christmas Village next to the drive is free to walk through.
The Best Home Display in Morris County
Fleetwood Lights, Rockaway Township
32 Fleetwood Drive, Rockaway Township. Free. Typically runs nightly from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. The 2026 dates have not been announced yet. Marc Iuliani runs roughly nineteen thousand RGB lights synchronized to music from his own front yard, and the playlist mixes movie soundtracks with holiday standards. There is no admission, but visitors are asked to bring a non-perishable item for a local food pantry. It is the one home display in the county that consistently draws people from outside its own town.
Morris County Tree Lightings
None of these have posted a 2026 date yet, which is normal in early September. The windows below are what each town has done consistently, and we will confirm each one here as it is announced.
Denville Rotary Santa Land Tree Lighting. Santa Land, downtown Denville. Free. Typically the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, around 6:00 p.m. The Denville Rotary Club has run this for decades.
Madison Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting. Downtown Madison and Waverly Place. Free. Typically the Friday after Thanksgiving, parade at 5:30 p.m., lighting around 6:30 p.m. Madison is the only Morris County town that pairs a full holiday parade with its lighting.
Boonton Holiday Tree Lighting at Santa Land. 126 North Main Street, Boonton. Free. Typically the first week of December. Boonton has its own Santa Land structure on Main Street, the same idea as Denville’s.
Chester Borough Annual Tree Lighting. Chester. Free. Typically the first week of December, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Mendham Business Association Holly Trail and Tree Lighting. Downtown Mendham near the Phoenix House. Free. December. More than twenty-four years running, and it drew over 130 families in 2025, with complimentary Santa photos.
Worth the Drive, Just Outside the County
Turtle Back Zoo Holiday Lights Spectacular. 560 Northfield Avenue, West Orange. Free, no tickets needed, about half an hour from Morristown. The 2026 dates have not been announced. In 2025 it ran November 21 to January 3. There are about fifty animal-themed light figures and more than a million lights, with several animal exhibits open, a s’mores station and Santa photos. Free and no reservation makes it the easy weeknight option.
Let It GLOW: A Holiday Lantern Spectacular. Bergen County Zoo, Van Saun Park, 216 Forest Avenue, Paramus. $20 adults, $10 children 3 to 17, train ride included. The 2026 dates have not been announced. In 2025 it ran November 6 to January 11. More than thirty hand-painted Chinese lanterns at a scale you have to stand next to, plus fire pits and s’mores kits.
Bergen County Winter Wonderland at Van Saun Park. Same park. Free to enter, activities paid. The 2026 dates have not been announced. In 2025 it ran November 28 to January 4. Open-air ice skating, a carousel, train rides, a craft market, live music and Santa. It hit its tenth year in 2025.
Demarest Farms Christmas Lights. 244 Wierimus Road, Hillsdale. A guided drive through thirty-two acres at a working farm. The 2026 dates and pricing have not been announced. In 2025 it ran November 22 to December 30.
Planning Notes
Weekend timed slots at Skylands sell out through most of December, so book the drive-throughs at least a week ahead. The free events are the opposite problem: parking, not tickets. For the Morristown Green lighting, the decks at Headquarters Plaza and the Dalton garage fill by late afternoon.
We keep this page current all season. For everything else on the calendar, check what to do in Morris County this month and our full Morris County events coverage.
Shopping the season too? Our companion guide covers Christmas markets in New Jersey, including the two that have already confirmed their 2026 dates.
