Bonnet Springs Park is expanding its popular “Light Up BSP” holiday event for 2024, extending the trail of lights, number of days and entertainment options after last year’s inaugural edition attracted an estimated 65,000 visitors.
What: 2nd annual Light Up BSP
When: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. nightly, beginning this Saturday, Dec. 14 and continuing through Dec. 31. The park is open every night, except Christmas. The Florida Children’s Museum, which is a separate entity on the property, is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas, and will not be open late during Light Up BSP..
Where: Bonnet Springs Park, 400 Bonnet Springs Blvd. This year, the lighted display has expanded. It starts as guests walk past the Welcome Center through the Heritage Gardens and continues onto the canopy walk.
Admission: Free.
Last year: An estimated 65,000 attended the event that spanned two weeks. This year, the event has expanded in length to two and a half weeks and organizers expect the attendance to increase. Kirsten Hein, Bonnet Spring Park’s vice president of engagement, recommends people arrive earlier than 6 p.m. if they want to beat the crowds.
New this year: Along with an expanded pathway of lights leading up to the canopy walk, there is also a tunnel of lights at the end of the canopy walk, Hein said. They’ve also added new decorations and expanded entertainment to every night, instead of only on the weekends.
“We found that the weekdays were attended just as much or more than the weekends, especially around Christmas,” Hein said.
On-site parking: Parking is free inside the park and directly outside the park in the grass lots. A tram is available to transport guests into the park.
Remote parking, free bus service: New this year, Citrus Connection will be providing a free transit shuttle service that will run nightly, transporting guests to the park’s Welcome Center, between 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The shuttle will run every 10 minutes.
The shuttle will pick up from the Rose Street Park and Ride lot next to The Joinery, the RP Funding Center and the Downtown Lakeland bus terminal.
Carpooling or using ride-share services, like Uber and Lyft are also recommended.
Food: Food and drinks will be available for purchase at the park’s Welcome Center Coffee Shop, Depot Cafe and Ice Cream Shop, Rooftop Bar, and mobile concessions. The park does not accept cash payments – only credit cards and contactless payments.
On Dec. 23, 10 local vendors will sell sweet and savory holiday goodies. They include: Milk & Honey, Bang Bang Bakehouse, Spurzile Gourmet, Apothic Fox, Meraki Bakehouse, Poppin Toffee, Kakes By Kiersten, Lizbeth Ceramics, Pop a Bao, Mando Supply Co, Cactus & Clover LLC and Gone Greens.
Entertainment: Performers are scheduled every night of the event and numerous craft-making activities are planned. Park guests will be able to take pictures with Santa Claus every night of the event, leading to Christmas. Santa will not be available after Christmas.
On select nights, holiday elves will be walking the park grounds, some of them on stilts. Other regular entertainers include Christmas carolers.
The family lawn will feature a variety of live music in genres including jazz, Motown, R & B, and pop. A few special events:
- Dec. 19: Play bingo with holiday tunes, featuring DJ KD Queen.
- Dec. 30: A series of wintery short films will be shown on the family lawn.
- Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve silent disco on the lawn. Guests will use headphones to listen to three stations and dance the evening away. Headphones are free and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Check a full list of entertainment programming.
Pets: Pets are not allowed on the holiday lights path or in the event space. The park’s staff requests guests to leave pets at home.
Getting around the park: The park spans more than 100 acres. Walking shoes are recommended. A tram takes guests to and from on-site parking lots to the Welcome Center, which is near the beginning of the light path. The tram will run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. All of the walking paths are ADA accessible, providing ease of use for strollers, wagons, and wheelchairs.
Sensory Nights: On sensory nights – Dec. 17 and 26 – the volume of the Christmas music played around the park will be lowered between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m, Hein said. On Dec. 17, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be available for photos and they are trained to work with guests who have autism and/or sensory processing issues, according to Hein.
Market: Twelve local vendors will participate in a “merry maker market” scheduled for 6-8:30 p.m. on Dec. 15. Vendors include East of These, Little Bus Books, Jaime Jay Handmade, Mamacita Lifestyle Co., Evelyn & Co., The Green House, Permacreek Farm, Milk & Honey, Spurzile Gourmet, Hive Happy Honey, Ninety-nine Candles and BBQ Dude Co.
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