Nite Lites Shines Brightly At MIS With Christmas Spirit

What is Nite LItes?

Simply put, Nite Lites is a five plus mile drive of Christmas lights. And, it is truly a feast for the eyes!

Located at (and on) Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, it features over one million lights. ONE MILLION! That is a whole lot of lights. But, with approximately 500 displays – and some that are very large – by the time you finish your trek around the track, you’ll believe it!

Nite Lites began in 1996 and was originally located at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. But, when a good thing called growth happened, they relocated to MIS in 2016. This gave John Spink a much larger venue and room to add over 200 displays.

What Do I Need To Know?

Nite Lites is open nightly from 5:30-9pm Monday through Thursday and 5:30-10pm Friday and Saturday
Cost is $25/vehicle Monday through Thursday and $30/vehicle on Friday and Saturday. Mini Bus/Limo/Motorhome cost is $45 everynight. Tour buses are $100 each night.
Use only US 12 entrances – FOLLOW THE SIGNS. Don’t do as I did and follow the car in front of you because you will end up in Brooklyn, not at the light show! (I did realize before I even got past the track that I was not going to the correct entrance)
There is a drive up concession area shortly after you pay to enter. I recommend you take your snacks and hot cocoa with you and enjoy the drive. Why spend more money for a short venture out?
They accept Cash or Credit Card

PLEASE NOTE: This is a seasonal event that ends December 31, 2021 for this year

Tips To Make The Night It’s Best

You will drive nearly halfway through the lights before you pay to enter. Most of what you see before paying are the displays showing who the sponsors are. Enjoy them because they’ve done a great job designing them!
To get the most of your experience, turn your headlights off while driving through (after you pay, though). However, keep your parking lights on!! Do you know how hard it is to see dark vehicles that have no headlights on?!? Really, common sense should have prevailed but I suppose not – or I wouldn’t be mentioning it here, huh? I know when I say there are over a million lights you most likely think it’s very well lit around the track. It’s not. These are colored lights that are concentrated in particular patterns and not shining brightly on the roadway.
This is a drive through wonderland and you can not exit your vehicle at any time. You are not even supposed to pull over to take pictures – which I found out the hard way by getting told to keep moving by a lighted, floating saber. I assume there was a person under it somewhere. This is why the majority of photos this week are just awful. I apologize. It’s terribly difficult to drive a van and take pictures…just awful pictures

Cost Of The Day

Entrance Fee Only – $25
Mileage for me was around 56 miles round trip

Yay Or Nay?

I went to this display not expecting much or to like it. I had gone once before a few years ago when it was located at the Jackson County Fairgrounds and it was OK. It hadn’t taken long to go through it and, at that time, I think I paid around $10 to get in with a carload of family. I knew the show had grown but I had no idea how much so.

Also, let’s face it, $25-$30 for an average vehicle seems like a lot of money to drive around and look at Christmas lights. I mean, my daughter and I do it every year…for FREE!

But! And I stress BUT…I thoroughly enjoyed the displays! It was much larger than I imagined and it took us around an hour to an hour and fifteen to get through it all. I thought we’d be through it in 20-30 minutes top. Nope.

It’s hard to imagine what a million Christmas lights could possibly look like until you come to the end and realize all that you just enjoyed. Is the entrance fee justified? By the end I could see how much work goes into making all the displays, the themes and the employees that make it all happen.

Do I wish it cost a little less? Definitely. Will I go again next year? Absolutely. I can hardly wait, actually.

Let me know what you think!

Shout out this week to my sidekick – my daughter, Shelby. Thank Heavens she went with me because any decent pictures were taken by her! Thank you!!!

More Than Just Displays

One of my favorite things about driving through Nite Lites was the tunnels. You know the type you see online or on the news that stream lights and change color as you go along. Oh yeah, there are three sets of them here and they are dazzling!

So Many Themes!

The light displays are not set up nilly-willy and are grouped together in themes. Some of the themes you will see are The 12 Days of Christmas, Fishing and Dinosaurs among many others.