The light show on the Lower Loop at Ouabache Trails Park started as one man's Christmas display at his own house. After he died, his lights and decorations went to the local YMCA so the display could continue. Later, the Knox County Parks department took it over, according to a Vincennes Sun-Commercial report.
Parks has kept adding pieces since then. In the season that report covered, the paper counted about a hundred stationary and animated displays on the loop, and eight to 10 of them were new. The display comes back on the day after Thanksgiving, but it runs on a shorter calendar than last year. If your family's habit is to drive through the week between Christmas and New Year's, this year will be different.
The Last Night Is Dec. 28
Knox County Parks & Recreation lists the 2026 Community Christmas Light Display for every evening from 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, Nov. 27 through Monday, Dec. 28. It's at the Lower Loop of Ouabache Trails Park, 3500 N. Lower Fort Knox Road. Admission is free, and donations go toward future park events.
Here is how that compares with last season:
- 2025 season: Nov. 28, 2025 through Jan. 1, 2026, according to the WVUT event listing, for 35 nights.
- 2026 season: Nov. 27 through Dec. 28, for 32 nights.
This year the display opens one night earlier and closes four nights earlier. The nights it loses are Dec. 29, 30 and 31, plus New Year's Day. Last season, those were the evenings when kids were out of school, visiting relatives were still in town, and the display had already been running for a month. This year the loop goes dark on a Monday, three days after Christmas.
The end date moves from year to year. One earlier season the Sun-Commercial covered ran through Dec. 25, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Last fall, the parks board's activities report told the Sun-Commercial the show would run until New Year's Day. This year it closes Dec. 28. If visiting family arrive late in the month, schedule the drive for Dec. 28 or earlier.
What Your Donation Pays For
The display is free, and that hasn't changed in years. "There is no charge to go through and see the lights, but we do take donations," parks superintendent Rama Sobhani told the Sun-Commercial. "We're there with our buckets out every night."
The parks department buys its lights from Christmas Done Bright, a family-owned business in Springfield, Tennessee, so each new figure on the loop is a purchase. The 2026 listing says donations support future park events.
The lights also have something to see besides the lights. One year the department put up a chalkboard split down the middle into "naughty" and "nice" columns, with first names and last initials. Some people recognized well-known Knox Countians on it, and it got enough attention that the paper wrote about it.
Visit Vincennes has described the Lower Loop as a drive-through display. You can see it from your car with the heater on, even on the cold nights.
Santa at Sleepy Hollow Takes Registrations Before the Lights Come On
The earlier closing date isn't the only reason to plan ahead this year. The park's other big December event, the Meet & Greet Santa at Sleepy Hollow, is on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 1 to 6 p.m. in the Sleepy Hollow cabin at Ouabache Trails.
The parks department explains how it works:
- Each visit is a private 15-minute session, and siblings can come in together.
- A professional photographer takes pictures, and one digital print is free. You can buy more if you want them.
- It's free, and children must be 12 or under.
- You have to register. Registration opens Nov. 16, and the department says spaces are limited and recommends calling the office early.
A five-hour afternoon of 15-minute sessions has room for about 20 sessions. Registration also opens 11 days before the first night of lights, so Santa planning starts while the loop is still dark. Last year's visit was on Saturday, Dec. 13, so the Saturday-before-mid-December timing is staying the same.
After the Santa visit, you can stay at the park. Sessions end at 6 p.m., the same time the Lower Loop lights come on. One trip to Ouabache Trails covers both.
December in Knox County, Built Around the Loop
Once you know the Dec. 28 cutoff and the Dec. 12 Santa date, the rest of the month falls into place. Here are the confirmed dates in order:
- Nov. 16: Registration opens for Meet & Greet Santa at Sleepy Hollow.
- Friday, Nov. 27: The Lower Loop lights turn on at 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 2: The Vincennes University music program performs its Christmas Gala Concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center, 20 W. Red Skelton Blvd. Admission is free, according to the VU performing arts calendar on WVUT.
- Friday, Dec. 4: The Knox Co. 28th Annual Parade of Lights steps off at 6:30 p.m. in downtown Vincennes. The Downtown Vincennes Association hosts it, and it includes the lighting of the town Christmas tree, according to the state events calendar.
- Thursday, Dec. 10: "Who Brought The Humbug?!" plays the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. as part of the VU Alumni Association Community Series. Tickets are $45 for adults, $40 for seniors 60 and older and for VU employees and retirees, and $25 for students.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: Santa at the Sleepy Hollow cabin from 1 to 6 p.m., then the lights.
- Monday, Dec. 28: The last night on the Lower Loop.
The two free events, the Dec. 2 concert and the Lower Loop lights, overlap that week. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. and the loop is open until 9. On a short concert night, you could catch the lights before or after, depending on how long the program runs. The busier stretch is the second week of December, with a ticketed show on Thursday and Santa on Saturday. That's also the week when families with grandparents visiting have the most choices.
Bicknell Runs Its Own Lights on a Different Model
Ouabache Trails isn't the only park in the county that lights up. Bicknell has an annual Community Christmas Light Display at Northside Park, just off Highway 67 East, according to Visit Vincennes.
Bicknell pays for its display differently. The county's display is run by a parks department that collects donations along the loop. In Bicknell, the Park Board sets money aside for new displays, the Sun-Commercial reported. Mayor Thomas Estabrook told the paper he pictured the park filled with lights for visitors to drive through. Nicole's Restaurant helps with a yearly pizza-kit fundraiser that the paper reported raises about $5,000 a year.
So when you buy a pizza kit in Bicknell, part of that money goes to the lights at Northside Park. Like the one on the Lower Loop, it's a drive-through display, so the two make an easy pair.
The Klein family has lived through decades of Knox County Decembers, and the Lower Loop has been part of most of them. If the lights at Ouabache Trails get you thinking about a bigger yard for your own display, or about a move that puts you closer to the park, Klein Real Estate can start with what your home is worth today. Get an Instant Home Valuation, then go see the lights before the last night on Dec. 28.
