For 20 seasons, the fields and tree-lined roads across from Hersheypark held a two-mile drive past nearly 600 lit and animated displays, as ABC27 described it. Last season it ran nightly through Jan. 4, 2026. You could book online for $29.99 to $34.99 per car or pay $54.15 at the gate for a standard car. You picked the night, loaded the car and left the engine running.
This year that option is gone. Hersheypark put it plainly in its Christmas Candylane FAQ:
"After 20 seasons of holiday magic, Hershey Sweet Lights will not return in 2026 as we focus on growing Hersheypark Christmas Candylane."
PennLive and ABC27 both reported the change on Sept. 8, 2026. Neither report says what will happen to the land the route used. What's left for a Hershey family is a holiday season built around set dates and posted showtimes, not a drive you could take any night. Most of the season hangs on two dates and one theater.
What the drive-through's absence changes
Sweet Lights worked as a fallback. It ran every night, you paid by the car, and you didn't need a reservation for a particular evening. Nothing on the 2026 calendar works that way. Here's how the main holiday draw compares between the two seasons:
| 2025 season | 2026 season | |
|---|---|---|
| Hershey Sweet Lights | Nightly through Jan. 4, 2026; $29.99 to $34.99 per car online | Not operating |
| Christmas Candylane dates | Select dates and all weekends, Nov. 14, 2025, to Jan. 4, 2026 | Select dates, Nov. 13, 2026, to Jan. 3, 2027 |
| How you pay | Per car for Sweet Lights | Per person; as of late October 2026, a four-pack is listed at $57 per person with parking for one vehicle |
For a family of four, the per-person pricing is the biggest change. Last year a carload paid about $30 to $35 online to see the lights. This year the four-pack listed on Hersheypark's site works out to $228 before taxes and fees. That buys a different product, a night inside the park with rides and shows, but it's now the main holiday-lights outing in town. A single one-day ticket is listed at $66.99, and admission includes parking. The page also says to check back for a Candylane ticket presale, so prices may still change.
Friday, Nov. 13: three openings on one evening
The season's first big date is Friday, Nov. 13, when three separate openings land on the same day.
- Hersheypark Christmas Candylane opens for its select-date season. New for 2026: a Fire & Ice Experience with icy lights and flames set to a score, an Estate of Evil Holiday Open House that brings Dark Nights decorating into the holidays, and a larger TREEville with a new walking area called The Shore. Twin Turnpike gets four new festive cars and new light displays, and Holly Jolly Laff Trakk gets a holiday soundtrack. Twinkling Thru Time at the Chevrolet Music Box Theatre is back. It debuted last season, so it's a returning show this year.
- Hershey's Chocolate World starts its holiday program the same day. A Hershey Company release dated Oct. 21, 2026 lists character photos from Nov. 13 to Jan. 3, Santa photos on select days from Nov. 13 to Dec. 24, and a holiday makeover of the free Chocolate Tour ride from Nov. 13 to Jan. 3.
- The AACA Museum holds its Fall/Winter Featured Exhibits Opening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. It includes the holiday exhibit, with free entry for members and exhibitors and a suggested $15 donation for guests.
The holiday ride makeover is the cheapest way in. The Chocolate Tour ride is free, and it changes over on the same day Candylane opens.
The Hershey Theatre opens the season a few days earlier. Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical runs Nov. 10 to 15, according to the Hershey Theatre events calendar.
The no-ticket lights mostly run in daylight
With the drive-through gone, the lights you can see without a Hersheypark ticket are mostly indoors, and most of them close by late afternoon.
Hershey Gardens' Christmas Tree Showcase runs Nov. 20 to Jan. 3, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It fills the space with decorated trees and twinkling lights and decorates the Butterfly Atrium for the holidays. It's included with admission and free for members. The Gardens closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day and is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
The AACA Museum's Trees and Trains Holiday Express runs Nov. 14 to Jan. 9, 2027. It has decorated trees, model-train layouts and a Grinch & Max scavenger hunt, and it's closed Dec. 24 and 25. It runs about a week longer than Candylane, so it's still open after the park's holiday season ends.
The Hershey Story Museum runs Saturday-morning programs. Whimsical Winter Crafts runs Dec. 5, 12 and 19 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is free with museum admission. Snowball Saturdays on Dec. 12 and 19 offers free indoor snowball fights and a snowman visit during the same hours. The Chocolate Lab classes those days need a paid ticket.
All three are daytime outings. Once the sun goes down, the options come down to Candylane, a few fixed events and the theater.
Saturday, Dec. 5: the day everything lands downtown
The second key date is Saturday, Dec. 5, and it's the most crowded day on the local calendar. Here's how it plays out in order:
- 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Whimsical Winter Crafts at The Hershey Story Museum.
- 3 p.m.: The first of two Hershey Symphony performances of Sounds of the Season at Hershey Theatre.
- 4 to 7 p.m.: The Downtown Hershey Association holiday celebration in ChocolateTown Square Park, followed by shopping and dinner along Chocolate Avenue. The event page doesn't print a year, but Dec. 5 falls on a Saturday in 2026.
- 7:30 p.m.: The second Sounds of the Season performance.
The same Saturday is also the last day of the Hershey Public Library's Wrap and Roll Collection, which takes donated wrapping supplies on Saturdays from Oct. 31 through Dec. 5. The library also offers its supplies for wrapping gifts.
You can do the 3 p.m. concert and the square celebration on the same afternoon. The 4-to-7 window in the park also fits between the two concerts if you'd rather catch the evening show.
After dark, the Hershey Theatre fills in
On December evenings without a Candylane ticket, the Hershey Theatre schedule covers most of the gap:
- Straight No Chaser, Sunday, Dec. 6, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
- Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet's The Nutcracker, Dec. 19 and 20.
- Cirque Dreams Holidaze, Tuesday, Dec. 22, at 7:30 p.m.
Ticket prices weren't posted on these event pages at last check, so look at the Hershey Theatre listings before you plan around a show.
Inside the park, Candylane's Breakfast with Santa at The Chocolatier runs on select dates from Nov. 27 to Dec. 24. The calendar year closes with a free event. Chocolate World's New Year's Eve Celebration on Dec. 31 runs from 3 to 8:30 p.m. with a DJ, character dancing and hourly countdowns.
If a sale or a move in Hershey is also on your calendar this season, the Got Bob Hoobler Team can map out a timeline that works around the holidays. Get Your Free Instant Home Valuation, then call us to talk through the dates.
