I always love finding holiday-season light shows that highlight the community, so I was excited when I had a chance to visit Christmas in the Park in Grove City, PA.
Christmas in the Park is not a large and elaborate light display with millions of lights. However, this small drive-through display offers the chance for local organizations, businesses, and residents to create smaller vignettes that really highlight the region.
The display can be found in Grove City Memorial Park, off West Main Street (Route 58), just to the northwest of town. The quarter-mile route does a short loop through the park, passing many fun displays.
Now in its 18th year, Christmas in the Park is put on the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce and is probably the most varied holiday display I’ve come across since each section is done by a different group.
It was a lot of fun driving through the seeing the many different displays that ranged from whimsical to classic and secular to religious, providing many different takes on the holiday season. That being said, because each display is self-contained, that also means that there’s no unified theme or lights draping from one display to the next.
That certainly limits how immersive the environment feels compared to some of the larger drive-through Christmas light displays in PA.
However, despite being small, there are two things that this display definitely has going for it.
First off, it’s a chance for the local community to really shine, and I felt like coming as a visitor to town, I was able to also learn a bit about the area while checking out the lights.
Second, because this isn’t a large and fixed display, it seems to have more variety from year to year compared to some other display that tend to be somewhat repetitive every year.
All that being said, this is a very small display, and you can see it all in just a few minutes. Because of that, it’s not the sort of thing you are going to way to go far out of your way to visit.
However, if you find yourself passing through Mercer County during the holiday season, it’s definitely worth a short detour to check out Christmas in the Park.
In 2025, Christmas in the Park in Grove City is open from 5-11 pm every night from November 28 through January 2. The entrance can be found in Memorial Park across the street from the following address: 1201 W Main St, Grove City, PA 16127.
Looking for more holiday activities in the area? Check out Kraynak’s Christmas Display, Cascade of Lights in New Castle, and Presque Isle Lights in Erie.
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