Anyone who lives in or around Louisville — or has plans to be there this holiday season — will need to make plans to visit a unique holiday light extravaganza.
Lights Under Louisville in the Louisville Mega Cavern features more than 40 themed displays, mapping projections, approximately 900 illuminated characters, four LED light tunnels, two laser displays, and a staggering 6,000,000 points of light. One of the lighted tunnels is even 200 feet long.
What makes the light display even more spectacular is that it is entirely underground.
“Throughout the past 10 weeks, we have built a magical holiday experience that has quickly transformed into the largest Lights Under Louisville experience, ever,” Charles Park, Louisville Mega Cavern’s executive vice president, told TravelAwaits in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome back visitors for one of the nation’s best-known holiday light experiences. We’ve added even more show-stopping visuals to our traditional big signature moments, with the new ‘MEGA’ light tunnel and extended route sure to engage the whole family.”
A Unique Setting
A man-made cave, the Louisville Mega Cavern is a 100-acre limestone cavern that originally was a limestone quarry. Since then, recycled concrete, brick, block, rock, and dirt have been trucked into the cavern to fill holes and create floors and internal roads. To put its size in perspective, during The Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s, state officials planned to house 50,000 people in the cavern if there was a nuclear attack, according to Mega Cavern.
The Mega Cavern, which is classified as a building by the Metro Louisville Government and the State of Kentucky, is home to commercial warehouses and a network of roads. That said, there is plenty to do inside the cavern in addition to the Lights Under Louisville experience. For instance, visitors can take a 2-hour guided zipline tour, take a tram tour to explore the cavern, take a 90-minute walking tour of the cavern, or test their nerves on an aerial rope challenge course.
How To Experience The Light Display
There are two ways to experience Lights Under Louisville.
First, you can drive your own vehicle along the underground road, which runs under the Watterson Expressway and the Louisville Zoo. That trip takes about 30 minutes.
The second way to experience the light show is aboard the Christmas Express, an open-air tram. That trip also takes around 30 minutes.
Know Before You Go
Louisville Mega Cavern’s Lights Under Louisville will be presented through January 1, 2023. It’s open every day from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. On Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, Lights Under Louisville will operate from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Tickets for Lights Under Louisville start at $34.99 for standard vehicles, which include SUVs, trucks, and minivans. Tickets for a full-size van, limo, or RV are $79.99.
You can find more general information about Lights Under Louisville here.
Visitors are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance at Lights Under Louisville’s website. You can buy those tickets here.
Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that the Lights Under Louisville experience contains flashing lights. Therefore, it may not be a suitable experience for anyone with photosensitive epilepsy or other flashing-light sensitivities.
While you’re thinking about it, be sure to read all of our Louisville content, including:
