Lights of West partners with community, provides new holiday experiences

WEST, Texas (KWTX) - Lights of West, the drive-through Christmas lights park in West, is continuing to partner with the community while lighting up the holiday season this year with new, memorable experiences.

“The goal is fully immersing our customers in Christmas lights,” Tom Patterson, one of the partners, said. “We’ve added a ton of new lights. We’ve enhanced a lot of scenes, so we just tried to make the overall experience better this year.”

Guests can now experience a ‘blizzard’ of lights appear to fall on them while passing through a new tunnel in the display.

In addition to more lights and more Christmas trees, Patterson said, this year, they decided to expand the experience beyond the drive-through lights park.

“We added the pavilion to give families more time to enjoy the experience out here,” he said.

The pavilion is in between two grain bins. One of the grain bins is transformed into a gift shop and coffee station. Lights of West teamed up with New Adventures Coffee, a local, family-owned coffee trailer, and Gerik’s Ole Czech Bakery and Deli out of West. Another grain bin is where kids can line up for pictures with Santa.

“You can spend more time with your family and actually get more value out of your trip to Lights of West,” he said.

The displays and structures actually have unique stories beyond the Christmas message. A 101-foot aluminum train that is painted with Christmas themes now sits toward the end of the trail. Patterson said the son of a victim of the West fertilizer plant explosion donated the train to the light park.

The ‘ark’ in the Noah’s Ark display is a 60-year-old sailboat that came from an Arabian Sheik, according to Patterson. He said they found in on Facebook and picked it up from Temple.

Many of the other features in the park are from local barns, old lumber or timbers that the group repurposed into the display.

The group of partners from Bryan and College Station began the endeavor in 2020 when the pandemic shuttered many holiday events and gatherings.

“There was nothing else to do, so we had a lot of success early and, then, year two was kind of a reset year because then everything else was open,” he said. “Year two, three and four, we’ve had steady growth.”

Patterson said he has watched families make the Lights of West a part of their Christmas traditions.

“It means a lot to us,” he said. “It just goes back to the effort that you put into it, and we do pay attention to details,” he said. “It just brings a smile to our faces.”

It has become a part of the partners’ lives to bring the display to life starting as early as Labor Day weekend.

“It’s a labor of love,” Patterson said. “It’s a lot of work. It’s long, do it yourself projects, essentially, but we’ve become accustomed to it.”

The group credits the support from the community of West, including several sponsorships and local businesses.

The park is open every night from 6 to 10 p.m. Admission is $35 for a vehicle of eight or less passengers and $55 for vehicles with 9-15 passengers.

There are options for trailer rides, a light maze, pictures with Santa and concessions. There will be some nights before Christmas with live music.

Groups are welcome to grab coffee or hot chocolate and toast marshmallows by the fire pit after experiencing the lights.

This year, the Lights of West is doing 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways on their social media.

Find more information here.