City Park’s Celebration in the Oaks, a two-mile stretch glittered with over two million lights, has been a New Orleans holiday tradition for years,  appealing to kids from one to 92.

After 24 years, Celebration in the Oaks is almost as mainstream to New Orleans as Mr. Bingle, the puppet snowman. The walking tour, with an entrance in Story Land on Palm Drive in City Park, is an annual pilgrimage many New Orleanians make.

The city may not be the epitome of a winter wonderland, but for some, City Park’s Celebration in the Oaks comes close. The tour starts with a walk through the man-made winter wonderland in the Botanical Gardens, with hourly snow showers and the ever-present magical, twinkling lights. Within the gardens are separately themed holiday exhibits, most notably the dancing laser light exhibit, the two-story tall Mr. Bingle inflatable, a laser light show and a 20-foot tall poinsettia Christmas tree.

The amusement rides section of the park offers rides on the century-old carousel or any of the other 25 rides. Rides can be individually purchased for $2 to $3 or a $12 band can be purchased for unlimited rides. Group or solo holiday photos with Santa are also available. In addition, food stands offer steaming hot coffee and hot chocolate along with signature New Orleans dishes like jambalaya, gumbo and crawfish pasta.

Weather permitting, the park will be open for visitors nightly starting Friday, Dec. 5 and extend through Dec. 30, excluding Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. Entrance cost is $6 and the hours are Sunday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. For more information visit http://celebrationintheoaks.com or call 504-483-9415. 

Rita West can be reached at [email protected].