Capital City Festival of Lights
A drive-through Christmas light show in Binder Park, every night but Monday through most of December, for a good cause.
- When
- Nightly through most of December, 6 to 9 p.m., closed Mondays
- Where
- Binder Park. The drive starts at Binder Lake Road, off Rainbow Drive.
- Cost
- $20 per family vehicle, $35 per bus or trolley (2026)
- Who runs it
- Homemaker Health Care, with JC Parks
December 4 to 26, 2026, nightly 6 to 9 p.m., closed Mondays
Date confirmed by: JC Parks.
Capital City Festival of LightsFriday, December 4, 2026 · Binder Park (Park Entrance)See the listing →
Picture from the listing on jcparks.com.
What it is
The Capital City Festival of Lights is a drive-through Christmas light show in Binder Park. You drive past the displays (Santa and his elves, reindeer, the Grinch, a Nativity scene), and some of them are synced to holiday music on your car radio.
It started in 2017, run by volunteers, and it has been a fundraiser from the first season. Homemaker Health Care, a Jefferson City nonprofit that provides medical equipment to people like low-income seniors and people with disabilities, organizes it. Proceeds have gone to local charities, including the Boys and Girls Club of Jefferson City and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
2025 was its ninth season, and putting it up is a long job: preparation for that show started in May.
What to expect
It runs nightly from early December through the 26th, 6 to 9 p.m., and it is closed on Mondays. The 2026 season is December 4 to 26.
Admission is by the carload: $20 per family vehicle, or $35 for a bus or trolley, in 2026.
Good to know
- Enter at Binder Lake Road, off Rainbow Drive.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters' Jingle Dash fun walk and run goes through the Festival of Lights, with a prize for the best holiday attire.
Past years
- 2025December 6 to December 26, 2025The ninth season.
- 2017December 2017The first season: 15 displays, every day in December except Mondays, $20 a vehicle.
Official information
Schedules, maps and changes come from the people who run it.
JC Parks: Capital City Festival of Lights (2026) ↗Questions people ask
When is the Festival of Lights in Jefferson City?
Nightly through most of December. The 2026 season runs December 4 to 26, 6 to 9 p.m., closed Mondays.
How much does the Festival of Lights cost?
$20 per family vehicle and $35 per bus or trolley in 2026.
Where is the Festival of Lights?
In Binder Park. The tour begins at Binder Lake Road, off Rainbow Drive.
Where does the money go?
To local causes. Homemaker Health Care organizes it as a fundraiser; earlier seasons benefited the Boys and Girls Club of Jefferson City and Big Brothers Big Sisters, and in 2025 the fee went toward making medical equipment more affordable.
More every year in Jefferson City
- Porchfest JCMOMay & October · First Sundays in May and October, 1 to 4 p.m.
- Juneteenth Heritage FestivalJune · A Saturday in mid-June
- Salute to AmericaJuly · July 4, fireworks at 9:45 p.m.
- Jefferson City Jaycees Cole County FairJuly · Monday to Saturday at the end of July, 5 to 11 p.m.
Where this comes from: 5 sources, checked October 18, 2026
- Capital City Festival of Lights (December 4 to 26, 2026) JC Parks
- First Capital City Festival of Lights kicks off (Dec 1, 2017) KBIA
- Inaugural holiday light show benefits Jeff City causes KOMU 8
- Jefferson City Festival of Lights returns in its ninth year for medical equipment fundraising KOMU 8
- Celebrate the Season Visit Jefferson City
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