Wonderland Of Lights, Marshall

I visited the Marshall lights 20 years ago when it was a drive threw the community display. It was much more festive and more beautiful than the current display. We rode the tour bus this time, and the display sections were set up for the bus tour, many had lights that were out, (please how much work is it to fix the rest of the USA flag). We rode on the bus for a 7-10 minute tour out to a two block community drive threw which was nice. But not anywhere worth the $10 a ticket bus tour....Marshall Pottery was a bust as well.. geez Vietnamese pottery....even Bodacious is 1/4 the BBQ event it used to be..... Oh well had a great time in Jefferson anyway.

My wife and I decided to stop at Marshall's Wonderland of Light festival last year on our way to Shreveport for Thanksgiving to view all the Christmas lights. Little did we realize what was in store for us as we arrived on the opening night of the festival. We were treated to the most awesome musical light show downtown. There were millions of strobing lights on Marshall's old time courthouse that danced perfectly to a thundering soundtrack which echoed through the vintage city streets. Following that spectacle, we were treated to christmas songs performed by a little girl named Rhema, and she brought down the house. I will never forget her singing and dancing; she was so cute. There was a star from the Twilight movie saga that signed auto-graphs and even mingled with the crowd. We discovered additional activities that compliment the festival including: ice-skating and carriage ride tours, but ran out of time. So, we decided to stop in Marshall again on our way back to Dallas and I'm glad we did. We'll definitely be making this event and annual pilgrimage.

Cannot wait for this years event, as I see it is the 25th Anniversary year. We love the light displays and the great activities for the children and just great hospitality. I see there are some new activities, "Worlds Largest Rocking Horse", well we just have to see that one.

Unbelievable is all I can say about the 2010 Wonderland of Lights Festival in Marshall. For the first time in a long time, the City shined like it's supposed to. The historic downtown courthouse synchronized light shows to music, the 4-block "street of dreams," the new ice skating rink - I could go on and on. Tremendous. This is definitely a rejuvenated tradition in quaint Marshall, Texas. Already have our trip planned to visit this year on November 23rd. Understand it is the 25th anniversary of the festival and that it will be even more impressive than last year.