How to find the best Christmas lights in town

The holiday season is synonymous with traditions: stockings above the chimney, gifts under the tree, baking treats and a holiday ham. One of the brightest traditions is decorating the house with Christmas lights, and there are plenty of spots in Houston County brightly illuminated and ready to dazzle the public.

For Warner Robins, the Conventions and Visitors Bureau has a map they call “Homes For the Holidays.” The map lists nearly 170 displays and over 30 places to grab snacks and drinks. 

The list is fed mainly by the Warner Robins Christmas Lights/Displays Facebook page. Dustin Ward started the page in 2020. With the county amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Ward wanted a resource where the public could find places to view lights while staying socially distanced.

“I told my wife, I was like, we need some kind of page where even with everything down in the world — it’s 2020, you got people out of work and everything else. I said they can’t take Christmas lights, [they can] just get in your own car ride around and look at this. We need something that kind of showcases that around this area,” Ward said.

Ward said as an avid fan of Christmas light displays, seeing the group grow to its current base of over 19,000 members is exciting and showcases something everyone can enjoy.

“It’s a common ground for everybody. That’s what I like about it. … Nowadays, a lot of traditions, they’re kind of going by the wayside with everything going digital, social media, and everything else. But that’s one thing I feel like the pages help [with,]” Ward said.

Ward said his favorite display is on Houston Lake Road and Kevin Drive, as well as Lake Joy and Feagan Mill Road, the group’s cover photo.

South of Warner Robins, the city of Perry calls their map “The Holiday Light Hunt.” The city has been running the map for three years, featuring 19 displays across the area. 

Communications Manager Tabitha Clark recommends the displays in Downtown Perry, as well as on Ball Street and Brittany Drive.

The city encourages submissions from the community and said they’ve received sizeable engagement from the public as the light hunt grows year after year.

“More people sharing, our posts and our videos about it, and just tagging their friends saying, ‘Hey, we want to come see; we want you to come see it with us.’ We’ve seen a lot more engagement with this year’s map. So, we’re really excited to surpass our numbers from last year,” Clark said.

According to Clark, the map fits perfectly with the city’s mission to increase quality of life and spread holiday cheer around this time of year.

“Quality of life is a huge thing for us here at the city of Perry,” Clark said. “So, this is one more way for us to give residents this kind of like, little service saying, hey, if you want to go and bundle up your children and go and have some family time or spouse time, just getting into the holiday spirit — this is something small that we can do, that hopefully will make a good bonding time for families, young adults and anyone who wants to just look at some pretty things in Perry.”

Perry’s Holiday Light Hunt is at https://perry-ga.gov/holiday-light-hunt-2023.

Homes for the Holidays is at https://www.visitwarnerrobins.org/copy-of-annual-events.

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