Where to See Christmas Lights at Temple Visitors’ Centers in 2024

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By Aimee Cobabe, Church News

The grounds of several temples and visitors’ centers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be full of joyful Christmas lights to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this December. In addition to the lights, hundreds of Nativities are on display and hundreds of performers will sing in choirs at Christmas events.

Below is a list of Church visitors’ centers hosting events this Christmas season.

Temple Square in Salt Lake City

Christmas lights in downtown Salt Lake City will shine daily — from 4:30 to 10 p.m. and from 6 to 8 a.m. — through January 1.

Read this related Newsroom story 2024 Temple Square Christmas Offers Lights, Music and Activities Honoring Jesus

Several areas around Temple Square are open to visitors despite ongoing construction on the Salt Lake Temple. Lights, international Nativities, detailed luminaria and star-covered pavilions are on display at the Church Office Building Plaza, leading to Main Street and the Conference Center, and continuing over to the Tabernacle and plaza directly northwest of the Tabernacle.

Washington, D.C.

The Festival of Lights at the Washington D.C. Temple will run from Thursday, December 5, through January 1. The temple visitors’ center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., with over 500,000 Christmas lights illuminating the temple each night from 4:45 to 9 p.m.

Dozens of choirs will also perform during the month of December at the Washington D.C. Temple Visitors’ Center. The visitors’ center website lists a full list of performances.

Hamilton, New Zealand

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Hamilton’s “Temple View Christmas Lights” begin on Monday, December 16, and continue through December 31.

Local choirs will perform each night from 8:15 to 9 p.m., and lights around the Hamilton New Zealand Temple will be on from 8:30 to 11 p.m.

Read more about the choirs performing and the first Light the World Giving Machine in Hamilton, New Zealand, on the “Light the World Hamilton” Facebook psage.

Manila, Philippines

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Thousands of lights surrounding the Manila Philippines Temple were turned on Friday, November 29. This is the 38th year of the Christmas lights tradition on and around the temple grounds.

Local Senator Imee R. Marcos, who attended the lighting ceremony, said the event “marks the beginning of the Christmas season for so many who time and again look for inspiration and hope” at the temple.

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Elder Carlos G. Revillo Jr., a General Authority Seventy and President of the Philippines Area, thanked everyone who came to the lighting ceremony.

“More than the beauty of the lights that we will see, tonight is about reflecting on the Light of the World: our Savior, Jesus Christ,” he said. “The initiative is not about lights or decorations but about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ by striving to live as He lived — through service, kindness and love.”

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Accra, Ghana

Members of the Church and their friends filled the Accra Ghana Christiansborg Stake Center in Accra, Ghana, on November 22 for a Christmas concert before turning on the lights outside the Accra Ghana Temple.

Sister Tracy Y. Browning, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, and Sister Tamara W. Runia, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, attended the event while on assignment in the area, along with their husbands, Brother Brady Browning and Brother Scott Runia.

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St. George, Utah

The lights around the St. George Utah Temple have returned for the first time in five years, following the temple’s renovation and rededication. At a lighting ceremony on Friday, November 29, a nondenominational choir joined a choir of sister missionaries from the Utah St. George Mission in singing Christmas hymns.

There are also 123 Nativities from dozens of different countries on display at the St. George Temple Visitors’ Center.

Mesa, Arizona

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Thousands of volunteers from dozens of stakes in the Phoenix, Arizona, metro area have worked since 1970 to make the Christmas lights display around the Mesa Arizona Temple happen each year. Some of the volunteers begin an inventory of the lights starting in the spring, but most volunteers work feverishly during November to transform the temple grounds into a Christmas celebration.

The lights on the Mesa Arizona Temple grounds turned on Friday, November 29, and continue through Monday, December 30. There are also 10 biblical vignettes placed along the olive trees that help tell the Christmas story, including a near life-size Italian Fontanini Nativity with a shining star. There are other unique Nativity displays inside the Mesa Temple Visitors’ Center.

Families can visit the Mesa Temple Christmas Lights from 5 to 10 p.m. each night through Monday, December 30. In addition to the Christmas lights, international Nativities and murals of Christ are on display.

Kirtland, Ohio

The Historic Kirtland Visitors’ Center exhibits hundreds of Nativities each year, and this year they have expanded the collection to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of its Nativity event. More than 70 countries are represented. Local volunteers work for weeks in advance to prepare for the event and catalog each Nativity piece, with many Nativities donated or on loan from local collectors.

People can visit the center to view the Nativities through January 6, 2025, except on Christmas and New Year’s Day. There will also be three nights of Christmas music, featuring interfaith music groups from across northeast Ohio.

View the full schedule of events at the Christmas in Kirtland website.

Los Angeles, California

People visiting the Los Angeles Temple Visitors' Center this Christmas season can enjoy a variety of events throughout the month of December, including choir performances, family night with the missionaries, and holiday sing-alongs and the lighting displays around the grounds of the Los Angeles California Temple.

Oakland, California

Displays of Christmas lights at Temple Hill, surrounding the Oakland California Temple, were turned on Friday, November 29, and will continue through Tuesday, December 31.

Free guided tours — with breathtaking views from the roof gardens — and Nativity tours are also available. These can be arranged in person at the visitors’ center.

A full list of events and tours is available at the Oakland Temple Visitors’ Center website.

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