A Hudson Gardens Christmas
By Elizabeth Wood West;
photos provided by Hudson Gardens and Event Center
Hudson Gardens and Event Center (Hudson Gardens) is hosting its second annual walk-through holiday lighting display, “A Hudson Christmas.” This dazzling event runs from Thanksgiving weekend through New Year’s Eve. Visitors can stroll through unique lighting displays, sip hot cocoa, and spend time with Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, or one of Santa’s many helpers.
The light show begins at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m., and will run on the following days:
Friday, December 6 and Saturday, December 7; and
Friday, December 13 through Tuesday, December 31.
Tickets are $9 for adults, $7 for members, $6 for children (ages 4-12), and children younger than age three are free. Tickets can be purchased at Hudson Gardens’ box office on show nights from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., in the gift shop on Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or online at www.tickethorse.com. Visitors are encouraged to dress appropriately for seasonal weather conditions. Strollers and wheelchairs are welcome; no bicycles or dogs, but service animals are welcome.
According to Hudson Gardens’ Marketing Communications Specialist Ian Ross, “The lighting show takes a lot of planning and a full month to set up the displays and event elements. This year’s display includes more than 250,000 lights – more than double last year’s lights. This is the second year of ‘A Hudson Christmas.’ We did a light show in 2009 and 2010, but ‘A Hudson Christmas’ has a very different feel; it has a unified theme of family. We are growing the light display to make it an even bigger outlet, not only for our immediate neighbors, but for surrounding communities like Castle Pines as well.”
Hudson Gardens was originally a five-acre property purchased in 1941 by King and Evelyn Hudson. The Husdons built their home and restaurant, The Country Kitchen, on the property and eventually retired after twenty successful years in business. After retiring, the Hudsons pursued their love of horticulture on the property. Evelyn Hudson established the King C. Hudson and Evelyn Leigh Hudson Foundation in 1988, leaving instructions to use her estate to “promote the cause of beautification and attendant ecological benefits.”
Hudson Gardens is located at 6115 South Santa Fe Drive (west side) in Littleton, three miles north of Interstate C-470, across the street from Arapahoe Community College. For more information, visit www.hudsongardens.org.
