Theatre of Lights

It was my family and I's first time at the Theatre of Lights, but the 16th year of Old Sac putting it on! It was performed on Main Street in front of Evangeline's and Willie's Burgers. It's a performance of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" performed by Santa and Jack Frost joins as well to try and take over Christmas. It was actually pretty cute and we loved seeing all of the lights - they even had streamers shooting out and fake snow! It was a fun way to bring in some holiday spirit and the narration was even done by the guy who does all the announcing at Disneyland - IYKYK.Showtimes are at 6pm and 7:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays and it lasts about 10-15 minutes. Check it out if you're looking for something fun and free (besides parking) to do. Old Sac also has a Ferris wheel plus fun shops with lots of unique knickknacks and yummy restaurants. We'll be back next year!

This is a wonderful show to enjoy with family. This is a free event, the area fills up quick so plan to arrive a few minutes early. Highly recommend.

Watching the Theatre of Lights has been a family tradition of ours for years! The show itself is not long. It starts with a short history of Old Sac, followed by telling of the Night Before Christmas and ending with a showdown between Santa and Jack Frost. We love watching the buildings and garlands light up, and hearing the kids get all excited cheering on Santa. It's great for the younger kids, but even the older kids and adults can enjoy. There are shows at 6pm and 7:30pm. It's free to watch but you will likely pay for event parking. We usually go the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving and it's usually packed. But it's still fun to watch and kick off the holiday season!

I have been to the Theater of Lights almost every year since I moved Sacramento in 2016 (2020 and 2022 the exceptions), and it is always a great and festive time!I the Friday after Thanksgiving with my family from the bay and we had a blast; The streets closest to the show are closed off to vehicle traffic, with tables in the streets and a few food trucks. The 19th century buildings are aglow with lights and garlands, and really gives off such a Dickens-esque vibe (which you'd expect while being in OLD Sacramento). The show is roughly 35 minutes or so, and starts off with some Sacramento history, and rolls seamlessly into the holiday portion. Theater of Lights takes place on both sides of the street, for a real 360 degree show feel. It is now sponsored by DOCO and the Sacramento Kings, and there are some pleasant surprises that were different this year than the past few - defiantly more money invested!The reason I deducted a star: parking is difficult, as you'd expect. Getting INTO the garages themselves is more of the challenge than finding an actual spot. Allow yourself ample time to arrive and park before the show. If for whatever reason you arrive late, the next show is within the hour. View the website for additional information :) The show is free, but parking is typically a flat fee of $10 - bring cash!!! With all that said, enjoy and wishing you all a very happy holiday season!!!

I loved this years play at old Sacramento, I really felt the xmas spirit. They put so much love and effort. Loved Jack Frost!If you get a chance, do checkout this year's play and bring family & friends. They even have a bit of snow at the end of the play. My only regret was that i forgot to bring hot chocolate.

What a fun place to take a holiday pictures. Even with Covid the place is packed, street parking is scarce, the enthusiasm stays the same. We drove up and lucked out. We didn't have to drive around, we found a spot across from the tree. We jumped out and took the board walk to across from the tree. We stood next to the garbage cans and post and snapped our picture. You can get a different vantage point taking the picture from across the street and you can see the outline of the tree. We then jumped back into our car and headed home. Way too many people to wander around during covid. It is worth the trip if you can be in and out.

I'm not much into the stress and financial hardships that go along with Christmas, but decorations and lights do add some spark to my depressing and tired old life as it is. Since Joe K and I were visiting his parent's house which is just a hop, skip and a jump from Old Sac., the suggestion to go see the light show turned out to be a nice idea. The performance starts on Thanksgiving and happens on specific days of the week all the way through New Year's Day. An entertaining version of "Twas the Night before Christmas" is narrated by an actor portraying Mark Twain who in turn recites the poem as others work in conjunction to act out this classic children's play for all ages to enjoy. Complete with an extensive array of decorative lights in a multitude of beautiful colors that correlate with the timing of the play's progression. The play is situated at Front and K Street up on the outside balconies of the participating businesses along that street. This makes viewing the whole light show easier for all to see as the street is temporarily blocked off to allow visitors to congregate out in the middle of the street. The show is not only free, but enjoyable to watch. I couldn't help but notice the smiles on people's faces that didn't even have children with them.There is something about a light show that seems to stimulate and fascinate our senses towards shiny objects! I'm sure the intention is to draw more people to patronize all the wonderful businesses located in Old Sacramento, which is one of my favorite tourist attractions of the city. Maybe they should have more light shows like this during other holidays as well!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUxnI938kk4

Pretty good location to visit with family. Train, Christmas tree, light show, lots of people and lots of places to eat, have coffee. Parking is tough but there is parking garage next to it with $10 fee.

Fun Local Winter-Theater Dramatical Production!SITREPThis is a fun stop in Old Sacramento. The Theater of Lights goes on during the Holiday Season, but is most fun actually on New Years Eve when the two (2) available "shows" are at 9pm and 12 Midnight.THE SETUPI prefer the 9pm show, even thought that's when all the kiddies are out with their parents, because this one has fireworks just as spectacular as the one at Midnight.STORY THEMEThe old curmudgeony Jack Frost is trying to stir up sh*t in Winter Wonderland and it is left up to old St. Nick to try to bring back some stability and unseat Jack Frost from his "evil."CONSIDERATIONSThe benefit of hitting the 9pm show is that you can have fun during this 30 minute run, and STILL make a more "Adult" New Year's Eve party at some other location.In addition, and to be quite blunt, the social-element that tends to come for the Midnight Show is not really my cup of tea - they tends to be more belligerent people, looking to cause trouble, as evidence by the needed police presence to break up fights and to be called upon in case of emergency situations such as when there was a shooting 2 years ago. THE LOWDOWNDefinitely treat yourself to the Theater of Lights as they continue through the Weekends of December and especially on New Year's Eve

I started coming to this event a few years ago before having children of my own. It was something to do, entertaining and brought joy. Tonight i finally decided to bring my 3 and 1 year old. Excited for their reaction to the lights and story we arrived an he early and found the perfect spot in the middle of the street. Willies was selling hot cocoa and beignets so it was what i thought it would be perfect. As myself and my son were approaching back to our area that my husband, 1year old and double stroller were in it began to get extremely crowded. To be honest there was still plenty of space but for some reason their were a rude family that decided to be very close to us. So close as i approached with our snacks this family had a child sitting in my stroller thinking it was theirs. *annoying* i brushed it off because sometimes kids just don't know whoever as I'm standing there they decided to take over my area leaning on my stroller basically pushing me and my kids out of the way. The show began and they tell everyone tj her closer into the street to see. The actually story is ok. Tells the history or Sacramento and then Santa comes out and defeats Jack Frost and lights the big Christmas tree. The horrible part is the crowd control as it is basically a free for all with ill mannered entitlement whom can care less about children watching.I def will not be attending again! Maybe if they began doing a certain amount of people to ensure safety, space and visibility.