Throughout December, children can enjoy a the twinkle of lights
Published in the December 9 – 22, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
A young girl looks up at the lights at Gilroy Gardens Theme Park.
Photo courtesy Gilroy Gardens
Christmas time is a magical time at Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park. During the month of December, children from all over the South Valley region take a fun afternoon outing to the park to enjoy the colors and twinkle of the electric luminescence decorating the trees.
Opened in July 2001 as Bonfante Gardens by Michael and Claudia Bonfante after selling their Nob Hill Foods supermarket chain, the 536-acre Gilroy Gardens has 22 rides and five attractions as well as serving as the home of the Circus Trees. The park is now owned as a nonprofit organization by the city of Gilroy and is managed by Cedar Fair.
Morgan Hill asked Gilroy Gardens General Manager Barbara-Lea Granter about why the theme park is extra special for South Valley residents during the holiday season.
Why are the holidays a special time for local people to visit Gilroy Gardens?
Gilroy Gardens is always a magical place for families, but during the holiday season when all the trees lit, and fanciful displays appear around Coyote Lake and through the “12 Days of Christmas” South County Backroads ride it comes alive at night. Our 40-foot-tall redwood trees in Sugar Plum Plaza make some of the tallest Christmas trees that a child has ever seen.
And with traditional Christmas music playing throughout the park, we believe they get more beautiful the closer it gets to Christmas. There is even snow! Under the train trellis snow falls through lights shaped as snowflakes, and yes if the children have to catch the snowflakes on their tongue, that is fine. Our snow is edible!
How did the Gilroy Gardens Holiday Lights celebration come about?
Holiday Lights began in 2005 in response to requests from the local community in the city of Gilroy. They asked if we could decorate a section of the park for Christmas so they could enjoy it lit up at night. Our volunteer board of directors asked if we could do one better and offer a holiday experience to our membership. The staff countered with a suggestion to open for the “12 Days of Christmas” to the general public and to include a traditional Holiday Feast of turkey, ham, stuffing and gravy, mashed potatoes and even apple crisp. It was such a success that we have done the event ever since.
What is new in this year’s Holiday Lights celebration — such as Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang?
We don’t add new things to Holiday Lights often as we have discovered the children really like things at Christmas “to be the same.” That is why “A Charlie Brown Christmas” does not change but stays true to the “spirit of Christmas” originally written by Charles M. Schulz, complete with Linus reciting the Christmas story from the King James Version of the Bible with his beloved blanket on his head pretending to be a shepherd.
What might visitors (especially those with young children) want to consider to prepare to come to the park for the Holiday Light event?
We recommend hats and gloves and an extra jacket. Perhaps a blanket for the stroller … and just in case an umbrella is always a good idea in December in California. Holiday Lights runs rain or shine and is quite pretty in a light rain if you are prepared. We also recommend that you come early if you can (between 3 and 4 p.m.) so you can ride the rides and watch the park come alive with lights as the sun sets.
