Moody Gardens Festival Of Lights Grand Opening Ceremony – Galveston, Texas

This weekend, don't miss the Moody Gardens 12th annual Festival of Lights grand opening ceremony.  Santa will parachute into town to ring in the magical spirit at 2013 event.

Brighten up your holiday season this weekend at Moody Gardens Galveston, Texas.  Pack up the whole family and come out to the 12th annual Festival of Lights on Satuday Nov. 16.  Enjoy a special performance highlighting the culture of Galveston's sister city Niigata, Japan.  The festive holiday entertainment will include twenty-five hand-made Japanese folk art known as the Taiguruma, pull-cart paper lanterns in the shape of a Bream fish, and perform songs to go along with the Japanese celebration.

This marvelous event is free to the public, the ceremony will kick-off at 4 p.m in the Moody Gardens parking lot, located at One Hope Boulevard.  Afterwards, Santa will flip the switch to begin the first day of the Festival of Lights beginning at 6pm.  Take the little ones through the trail of thousands of lights and dazzling Christmas scenes.  By the way, guests can also enjoy the Texas-sized Arctic slide and the classic outdoor skating rink. Ice skates are available for rent or guests can bring their own. complete with ice skating, hot coco and more.

Here's a look at the complete Festival of Lights schedule.

With the purchase of a Festival of Lights ticket, tickets to the Aquarium Pyramid, Rainforest Pyramid, Discovery Pyramid, holiday MG 3D film, holiday 4D Film, Ridefilm and Colonel Paddlewheel Boat can be purchased for only $6 each. For more info, please call 800-582-4673 or visit moodygardens.org.

So you'll know Galveston is the "Winter Wonder Island" of Texas.  The island offers more than 1,000 magical holiday events to enjoy during the holiday season.  Moody Gardens is a proud participant in Galveston's new Passport to Holiday Magic celebration, where visitors can access a downloadable "passport" to keep track of the island's many events and have a chance to win prizes. To get your passport, visit www.galveston.com/holidaymagic.

Enjoy the Christmas holidays and experience all of what our surrounding areas have to offer.  Here's more details about Southwest Louisiana Christmas events and The Louisiana Holiday Trail of Lights.