The LuminoCity Holiday Lights Festival switched on at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow on Wednesday, November 11, for its fifth holiday season at the park. It runs nightly through Sunday, January 3, 2027, and this year it adds something the park has never had: a holiday train ride, called the Lumi Express, that carries guests through the lit grounds.

The festival covers 14 acres of the park off Hempstead Turnpike. According to LuminoCity's own announcement, the walk-through is laid out as four themed worlds, with more than 100 illuminated and animatronic figures, large light installations and a 40-foot Christmas tree.

The four worlds

LuminoCity names the 2026 sections Magical Wonderwood, Dino Safari, Holidayville and Tundra Twilight. New family attractions this season include the Happy Holidays Hop, a 20-foot inflatable Santa and a Triceratops Bounce Nest. Santa makes pop-up appearances on select weekends, and the company says themed nights are planned, with dates still to be announced.

Twelve Long Island kids, drawn in light

One part of the show is designed by children. For the sixth year, LuminoCity and the Long Island Children's Museum in Garden City ran the Lumi's Utopia drawing contest, this time on a Dino Friends theme. In October the two announced 12 winners, and their drawings have been built as handcrafted light sculptures that stand in the park this season.

Visitors can also watch two of the festival's lantern artisans, Huang Xingxiu and Jiang Lei, at work in a demonstration the company describes as sensory friendly.

Tickets and parking

LuminoCity lists general admission starting at $29 and tickets for children ages 4 to 12 starting at $22, before taxes and fees. Children 3 and under get in free. Some attractions, which the company does not name individually in its release, need a separate add-on ticket. Parking on site is free.

Tickets are sold by date on the festival's website, which also carries nightly hours.

Where it is

The festival's listed address is 1899 Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow.

How to go

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