Largest Holiday Lighting Event on Gulf Coast to Kick Off Nov. 13 With New Features

Moody Gardens Adds Kids Snow Zone, Food Drive and More to Ninth Annual Festival of Lights

GALVESTON ISLAND, Texas, Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This holiday season kids won't need unusually frigid weather to enjoy the rare chance to play in Texas snow.  That is, not if they come to Moody Gardens' ninth annual Festival of Lights.

This year's festival – to be held Nov. 13 to Jan. 1 in Galveston – will feature a new Snow Zone play area for kids, which will be offered on Friday nights throughout the holiday lighting event. Admission to the Snow Zone is just $5 with the purchase of a Festival of Lights ticket and allows kids to play in the snow for as long as they'd like.  

Also new to the festival will be Moody Gardens' "Food Drive Fridays," where guests can bring a non-perishable food item on any Friday and receive 2-for-1 admission to the festival. The food drive program will benefit Galveston and Houston food banks.

"Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens has become a family tradition for many of our guests that come out every year to celebrate the holiday season with us," said John Zendt, president of Moody Gardens. "We're glad to give them something new and exciting to enjoy this year while also allowing them to contribute to a worthy cause."

Festival of Lights is the Gulf Coast's largest holiday lighting event, receiving more than 85,000 visitors annually. It includes a mile-long trail of more than a million lights and 100 sound-enhanced animated displays sparkling over the beautiful Galveston Bay. Every year, Santa Claus starts the festival magic by parachuting in to Moody Gardens to flip a switch that transforms the 242-acre property into a glistening wonderland.

This year's opening day celebration will begin at 4 p.m. Nov. 13 and will include performances by local groups, including the Galveston Ballet, the Sugar Land First United Methodist Church Choir, and Leah White & The Magic Mirrors. While guests are being entertained, they can also explore a variety of Festival of Lights activities, from ice skating to watching Santa feed penguins in the Moody Gardens aquarium.

Photos with Santa will be available nightly throughout the festival, which will be open Thursdays – Saturdays Nov. 13 to Dec. 11, excluding Nov. 18. The festival will also be open Dec. 12.  Festival of Lights will be open daily from Dec. 16 to Jan. 1.

In addition to the festival, guests can also catch holiday-themed films in the Moody Gardens IMAX® 3D Theater, Ridefilm Theater and 4D Special FX® Theater, or check out the holiday aerial acrobatics show Imagine Christmas in the Moody Gardens Convention Center between Dec. 16 and Dec. 26. The show comes with a dinner buffet.

Admission to Festival of Lights is $5.95. Tickets to select additional attractions, such as the IMAX® 3D holiday film,  Ridefilm, Discovery Museum, Aquarium Pyramid, Colonel Paddlewheel Boat and outdoor ice skating rink, can be purchased for $5 each when accompanied by a Festival of Lights ticket.  Imagine Christmas tickets (including dinner) are $45 for adults and $25 for children 12 years and younger. Hotel packages are also available.

Major sponsors of this year's Festival of Lights include: Cadillac, PepsiCo, Morris Architects, CHPA Consulting Engineers, American Marble, Baker Concrete, Chuoke Plumbing, Forman Equipment & Contracting, Gilbane Builders, Hunton Trane, Kelso Concrete, Letsos Co., Houston Community Newspapers, KPRC-TV Channel 2, and KKBQ FM 92.9. For more information call 800-582-4673 or visit www.moodygardens.org. Photos of Festival of Lights are available by request.

SOURCE Moody Gardens