Hershey's Holiday Lights Are Now A Walk. The Drive-Thru Starts In Elizabethtown.

For 20 seasons, Hershey's holiday drive ran for two miles of animated displays on the land between Route 39 and Sand Beach Road. Hershey Entertainment & Resorts' 2025 guide counted more than 500 illuminated displays along that route. ABC27 put the count at nearly 600, spread across fields and tree-lined roads.

That route stays dark this year. Hershey Sweet Lights, which Local21 reports began in 2005, has been retired after 20 seasons. Hershey's biggest light display this season is inside Hersheypark, where you see it on foot with a ticket. If your family's tradition happens in the car, it now runs on a different map.

What Hersheypark Said, And Where The Effort Went

ABC27 broke the news on September 8, and PennLive covered it the same day. Here is the park's explanation from the FAQ on the Christmas Candylane page:

"After 20 seasons of holiday magic, Hershey Sweet Lights will not return in 2026 as we focus on growing Hersheypark Christmas Candylane."

The announcement doesn't say what will happen to the Sand Beach Road site or the display inventory. Anything you've heard on that front is a guess.

The "growing" part is easier to see. Candylane's 2026 list of new attractions is long, and almost all of it is meant to be walked through or ridden:

• Fire & Ice Experience: icy lights and flames timed to an atmospheric score.
• The Shore: a grove of Hershey's candy-themed trees with lights, lasers, swirling fog and two treat stops.
• TREEville: the park calls it bigger and brighter than last year.
• The Estate of Evil Holiday Open House: the Dark Nights house decorated for the holidays.
• Twin Turnpike: four new festive cars and new light displays.
• Holly Jolly Laff Trakk: a holiday soundtrack on the indoor coaster.

Twinkling Thru Time is on this year's schedule, but it isn't new. Hershey Entertainment & Resorts called it an all-new show when it debuted in 2025. The park advertises more than 5 million lights across the Candylane footprint, plus Santa and all nine of his reindeer.

The Calendar And The Price Tag Both Changed

The official page lists Candylane on select dates from November 13 through January 3. That's one day earlier at each end than last season, which ran November 14, 2025 to January 4, 2026. ABC27 reported a November 12 opening, so check the park's calendar before you pick a night. "Select dates" matters too. Sweet Lights ran nightly last season, and Candylane does not.

Pricing changes even more. In 2025, a standard car cost $29.99 to $34.99 online, depending on the night, and $54.15 at the gate. Everyone in the car rode on that one price. Candylane charges per person. As of late October, the Candylane page promotes a $66.99 one-day ticket and a $57-per-person family four-pack, and it says a separate Christmas Candylane presale is coming soon. Admission includes free parking. A family that used to pay one car fee should expect to pay for each person this year.

Where The Drive-Thru Lives Now

If you want to stay in the car, there are still options, but none of them are in Derry Township. Here are the drive-thru and nearby walk-through shows with confirmed 2026 dates:

Stone Gables comes closest to what Sweet Lights offered. It's a mile longer than the old two-mile Sand Beach Road route, and it sits on the same estate as the National Christmas Center. That center opens November 20 for the Christmas season on select dates, and admission is $25 for adults, $15 for ages 5 to 17 and free for ages 4 and under. If price is your measure, Christmas Spirit's $25 per vehicle comes in under Sweet Lights' lowest 2025 online car price, though its route is half as long.

Lancaster County also has Messick's Christmas Light Show in Mount Joy and Greenfield Park Lights, but neither has announced 2026 dates. If either is part of your season, keep an eye on their pages.

Hershey's Own Lights, On Foot And Mostly Free

The holiday nights that stay in Hershey are walk-through events, and several cost little or nothing beyond regular admission. Here they are in calendar order:

1. November 20 to January 3: Christmas Tree Showcase at Hershey Gardens. Trees by local designers, 14-foot and 8-foot poinsettia and tropical trees, holiday décor in the Butterfly Atrium, and the historic Comet coaster car set up for photos. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and it closes at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
2. Same window: student-made ornaments on live Fraser firs at the Gardens, included with admission. Nature-themed kids' crafts run November 21 and 28 and December 5, 12, 19 and 26, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
3. December 5: Light Up Downtown Hershey at ChocolateTown Square Park, a free tree-lighting celebration. Event listings give the hours as 4 to 7 p.m. and say Santa will arrive.
4. December 5, 12 and 19: Whimsical Winter Crafts at The Hershey Story, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. There's a different craft each Saturday, plus vintage toys and a holiday photo backdrop. It's free with museum admission.

December 5 is the day to plan around. The Gardens crafts end at 1 p.m., The Hershey Story runs crafts that same morning, and the downtown tree lighting starts at 4. All three fit into one Saturday in Hershey.

Downtown events that happened last year still need 2026 confirmation. The Fresh Market's Holidays on Chocolate tree lighting debuted on December 6, 2025, with a 33-foot tree in the courtyard between Iron Hill Brewery and Primanti Bros. The Hotel Hershey's most recent posted tree-lighting schedule is also from 2025. Check both before you count on them for this year.

Christmas Candylane opens November 13, and the Elizabethtown drive opens a week later. If you're also weighing a holiday-season move around Hershey, or just want a local read on how the town is changing, Denise Bollard is glad to talk it through. Schedule a consultation.