T’is the season for holiday lights and Christmas trees and of course everyone’s favorite jolly old man! Most neighborhoods already have at least a few heavily decorated houses to be found, but if you are looking for a unique Las Vegas way of celebrating the holidays then the annual Cactus Garden Holiday Lights at the Ethel M Chocolate Factory is one of the best ways of doing so.

We may not have trees and snow covered forests here in the desert, but we do have cacti. Throughout the year, the Cactus Garden at Ethel M’s is a beautiful botanical garden showing off our native species of cacti, trees, and bushes. Every winter, this year beginning as early as November 15, every square inch of the garden was transformed into a winter wonderland full of holiday lights, Santa Claus, and polar bears in celebration of the holiday season. In fact, they use over half a million lights in total throughout the display.

The entire gardens make for great photo ops, but one of the best is with Santa himself. Every weekend, Friday through Sunday until Christmas, Santa is available for photos with your family. If you use your own camera there is no charge, but professional photos are offered for a nominal fee as well. The lines get longer the closer to Christmas you wait, of course. However of you get there early in the evening this time of the month the wait is actually not bad.

Also on weekends from 6 to 8 p.m. there are local choirs roaming about the grounds singing traditional Christmas carols. Choirs from Coronado High School and Schofield Middle School performed at the opening of the light display in November, but it has not been specified which choirs will be there throughout the season. There will be a performance by the Sign Design Theatre Company on Saturday December 18 at 6 p.m.

This weekend it was much calmer than I remember it being last year but that is likely to change further into the month. In fact, this Saturday, December 10, “Decadence in the Desert” will be held there from noon to 10 p.m. Three food trucks are scheduled to be there and at least 25 booths of local artists and craftsmen will line the road and
area around the garden.

The light display is nondenominational and absolutely can be enjoyed by anyone. The chocolate factory and chocolate shoppe are also open until 10 p.m. The walkway is very easy to walk on and is wheelchair accessible. There are even a few benches along the way to rest on if needed or to take a moment to enjoy the sights. Just be sure to bundle up because if you haven’t noticed, we are off to a cold winter—by Vegas standards anyway.

The Cactus Garden Holiday Lights and all events held there are all completely free and open to the public. The light display is open nightly from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. from November 15 to January 1, 2017. Ethel M Chocolates Factory and Cactus Garden is located at 2 Cactus Garden Drive Henderson, Nevada 89014. For more about the event, visit the official webpage at ethelm.com; our very own Diane Taylor did a great piece on the ongoing Decadence in the Desert event earlier this summer and Megan Edwards’ “Megawatt Cactus” also about the holiday cactus lights from 2004 is worth a read as well!