The East Peoria Festival of Lights has been a holiday tradition for 37 years. The event runs through Jan. 2, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Festival of Lights)

The East Peoria Festival of Lights returns this weekend, the Parade of Lights on Saturday, Nov. 20.

Marking 37 years of holiday cheer, the festival begins with the Parade of Lights and continues through the month of December with the Folepi’s Winter Wonderland drive-through display, located at 123 Par 3 Lane, East Peoria (in VFW Post 2078 Park off Springfield Road).

The Festival’s mascot is the wooden soldier Folepi, whose name serves as an acronym for “Festival of Lights, East Peoria, Illinois.”

The drive-through display opens Thanksgiving night and will be open every night

through Monday, Jan. 2, 2022

Admission

Entry fees are paid at the entrance booth. We accept cash, credit cards and debit cards. We do not sell online admission tickets.

$10 for regular vehicles (cars, trucks and vans)

$30 for a small bus (mini, party, shuttle, school, RV and limousine)

$150 for a full-size charter motorcoach

Hours

5 – 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday (shorter lines)

5 – 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday

5 – 9 p.m. Dec. 24 through Jan. 2

The East Peoria Festival of Lights returns this weekend, the Parade of Lights on Saturday, Nov. 20.

(Note: Wait times on Friday and Saturday nights are extremely long this year, at times over three hours. We can get 250 cars an hour through the display, and traffic comes in from four directions. If you visit on Friday and Saturday, expect that you will be in a very long line and plan accordingly. If at all possible, come to the display Sunday through Thursday night.)

Details

The drive-through electric park is the Festival of Lights’ signature event! Folepi’s Winter Wonderland features the majority of the Parade of Lights floats and many other lighted displays including:

Candy Cane Factory

Lighted arches and circus animals

Ski jumper display

Prehistoric Land

Space Land

Western town

And more.

It takes about 30 minutes to drive through the display. The Winter Wonderland entrance is off Springfield Road on Par 3 Lane.

Holiday Music

Tune your vehicle’s radio to 88.1 FM for holiday music to accompany your drive.

Merchandise

Get Festival of Lights merchandise in the online store from partner TeamWorks. Items include sweatshirts, long-sleeve T-shirts, pullovers, hats, bibs for the little ones. Styles are available for men, women, children and toddlers.

The online store is open through Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Shop at https://folepi.itemorder.com