"After 20 seasons of holiday magic, Hershey Sweet Lights will not return in 2026 as we focus on growing Hersheypark Christmas Candylane." That is the full explanation on Hersheypark's Christmas Candylane page, and it is the only reason the park has given.
Local 21 reported that the park announced the end of Sweet Lights on Tuesday, Sept. 8, and that the display began in 2005. It came one day after another goodbye. The Sun noted that Tidal Force, the park's 32-year-old Boardwalk flume, made its last splash on Labor Day, Sept. 7.
The bigger change is the schedule. Last year Hershey had a holiday light show open every evening of the season. This year the lights mostly keep a Friday-through-Sunday rhythm until a few days before Christmas, so planning a lights night now starts with the calendar.
Last season's lights opened at 5 p.m. every night
Sweet Lights covered two miles with more than 500 light displays, on wooded ground between Route 39 and Sand Beach Road. PennLive described it as a separate attraction near the park, with displays timed to holiday music and many of them moving.
The schedule set it apart. Hershey Entertainment & Resorts' release for the 2025 season said Sweet Lights was "open nightly through Jan. 4, 2026" and opened at 5 p.m. each evening, with closing times that varied by night. That made it the one light show in town you could fit into a random Tuesday after dinner. You didn't need a ticket for a set day or a parking plan, and you didn't need anyone to walk through the cold.
No new use for the land along Sand Beach Road has been announced.
Candylane's 2026 calendar, week by week
Christmas Candylane now carries the lights. The park advertises more than 5 million of them, with a new Fire & Ice Experience, a bigger TREEville that extends to The Shore, four new festive cars on the Twin Turnpike, a holiday soundtrack on Holly Jolly Laff Trakk and a holiday open house at the Estate of Evil. It runs on select dates from Nov. 13 through Jan. 3, 2027.
The park's hours calendar lists these dates as of late October. The park notes that hours can change.
| Week | Open | Hours | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 13–19 | Fri. 13, Sat. 14, Sun. 15 | 5–9 p.m. Fri.; noon–9 Sat.; noon–8 Sun. | Mon. 16 to Thu. 19 |
| Nov. 20–24 | Fri. 20, Sat. 21, Sun. 22 | Same weekend pattern | Mon. 23, Tue. 24 |
| Thanksgiving week | Wed. 25, Thu. 26, Fri. 27, Sat. 28, Sun. 29 | 5–9 p.m. Wed. and Thu.; noon–9 Fri. and Sat.; noon–8 Sun. | Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 |
| Dec. 4–10 | Fri. 4, Sat. 5, Sun. 6 | Weekend pattern | Mon. 7 to Thu. 10 |
| Dec. 11–17 | Fri. 11, Sat. 12, Sun. 13 | Weekend pattern | Mon. 14 to Thu. 17 |
| Dec. 18–22 | Fri. 18 through Tue. 22 | Weekend pattern, then 5–9 p.m. Mon. 21 and Tue. 22 | None listed |
| Christmas week | Thu. 24; Sat. 26 to Wed. 30; Thu. 31 | Noon–4 p.m. Dec. 24; noon–9 Dec. 26–30; noon–4 Dec. 31 | Fri. 25 |
| New Year | Fri. Jan. 1, Sat. Jan. 2, Sun. Jan. 3 | Noon–9 p.m. Jan. 1–2; noon–8 Jan. 3 | None listed |
The park calendar does not yet list hours for Wednesday, Dec. 23, so check Hersheypark's hours page before planning that night.
From the Nov. 13 opening through Dec. 20, Candylane is open 20 days. Eighteen fall on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and the other two are the Wednesday and Thursday of Thanksgiving week. Apart from those two Thanksgiving-week nights, no Monday-through-Thursday evening in that stretch has a light show open in Hershey. Regular weekday evening hours start on Dec. 21.
Every visit needs a ticket. The Candylane page lists a one-day any-day ticket at $66.99 and a four-ticket bundle at $57 per person with free parking for one vehicle, both plus taxes and fees. Tickets are good on any public operating day through Jan. 3, 2027. If you plan to go on several weekends, look at the season pass page. It says new 2027 Full, King and Giant Size passes, shown at $179, $239 and $369, include unlimited visits for the rest of 2026, Christmas Candylane included. Those prices are the park's current offers and may change.
The weekday gaps fill with daytime stops
Three other holiday displays in Hershey cover the days Candylane is closed. All three keep daytime hours.
- Hershey Gardens Christmas Tree Showcase, Nov. 20 through Jan. 3, generally 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day and closes at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Inside are twinkling-light trees by local designers, 14-foot and 8-foot poinsettia and tropical trees, holiday décor in the Butterfly Atrium, and a historic Comet coaster car set up for photos. It comes with Gardens admission and is free for members.
- Hershey History Center Holiday Train Show, Nov. 27 through Dec. 30 at 40 Northeast Drive. It is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with last train admission at 3:45 p.m. Museum admission covers the show, and the museum is closed Dec. 25.
- Hershey's Chocolate World, starting Nov. 13. The Hershey Company's Oct. 21 release announces a Holiday Chocolate House decorated with Hershey candy. The free Chocolate Tour Ride gets holiday décor, a seasonal soundtrack, projections at the finale and the returning Hershey Elves through Jan. 3.
Put the Gardens and the train show together and Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays have the most daytime options. A Monday in early December can mean the tree showcase in the morning and the model railway after lunch, then dinner without a light show afterward. Hershey Theatre also has weeknight dates early in the season. The Hershey calendar of events lists Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical from Nov. 10 through Nov. 15.
Saturday, Dec. 5 is when everything overlaps
The weekend pattern is most crowded on the first Saturday of December. Light Up Downtown Hershey, the free holiday tree lighting at ChocolateTown Square Park, is set for Saturday, Dec. 5, from 4 to 7 p.m. That evening also has:
- Christmas Candylane, open noon to 9 p.m.
- The tree lighting at ChocolateTown Square Park, 4 to 7 p.m.
- Hershey Symphony Presents: Sounds of the Season at Hershey Theatre, according to the Hershey calendar of events.
The Gardens showcase and the train show are also open that day during their daytime hours. With four holiday events in one day on top of a Candylane Saturday, Dec. 5 is the one date this season where planning the evening around the downtown tree lighting makes more sense than planning around the park. The other big December nights are bookings at the arena and theater: Trans-Siberian Orchestra at GIANT Center on Dec. 18 and The Nutcracker at Hershey Theatre on Dec. 19 and 20. Dec. 18 to 20 is also a Candylane weekend.
If the drive itself was the tradition
Candylane is a walk-through. It can't replace the experience of staying in a warm car with the radio on. The nearest confirmed drive-through for 2026 is outside Derry Township, at Penn Medicine Park, 650 North Prince Street in Lancaster. Its Christmas Spirit Light Show runs Nov. 27 through Dec. 31. The calendar lists Nov. 27 to 29 as lights-only nights, closures from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, and a soft opening on Dec. 3. Hours are 5:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5:30 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
That Sunday-through-Thursday schedule fits the gap. From Dec. 3 through Dec. 17, the Lancaster show is open on the Monday-through-Thursday evenings when Candylane is closed, so a weeknight lights drive is still possible in early and mid-December.
If you own in Hershey or are weighing what the year-round calendar means for a property here, Wendell Hoover can walk you through it. Discover your property's investment potential and schedule a consultation.
