ChristmasTown 2024 is in full swing at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. With thousands of lights and special Christmas events, guests of all ages are invited to celebrate the reason for the season this year. The Creation Museum is a 75,000-square-foot facility featuring 150 exhibits detailing the timeline of Biblical history and the life of Jesus. The museum is also home to a 200-seat special effects theater, a planetarium, zoo, nature trails, ziplines, and more.
The beautiful outdoor botanical gardens on-site are decorated with thousands of lights each year, always rotating designs and colors to ensure a new unique experience each Christmas season. This year, life-size dinosaur sculptures by Buddy Davis decorated with colored lights can be found scattered through the gardens. Lit-up Christmas trees and bridges cover the gardens in a festive glow as guests meander through on the trails.
At the Creation Zoo, the Christmas lights continue and light your path to see all the animals from around the world. Guests can pet and interact with animals like goats and alpacas, weather permitting, and make their way to the Live Nativity at the Wonders of Creation Stage within the Zoo coming face to face with Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus.
Outside in the botanical gardens is the new Conservatory that features plants from the Bible. The Conservatory is four separate glass greenhouses with their own climate, offering a warm escape from the frigid air outside. Each greenhouse is filled with lighted Christmas trees and twinkling lights throughout the layout of Biblical plants and beautiful poinsettias. Guests can listen to a self-guided tour through the new Conservatory as some of the very first guests to witness it this Christmas season.
Other special holiday events include live dramas telling the story of Christmas inside Legacy Hall, a 4K theatre planetarium show about the star in the east that guided the wise men, and many family-friendly programs such as Christmas Truths for Families and 7 C’s of Christmas where guests can make their own ornament to take home as a memento.
ChristmasTown is an entirely free event aside from the cost of parking which is discounted to $10 after 4:00 p.m.. ChristmasTown operates from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. from November 29, 2024 through January 4, 2025, Tuesday through Saturday on select days which can be found on their website. During ChristmasTown, the inside of the museum is not available for free, but the main lobby, gift/book store, Noah’s Café, Stargazer Planetarium, Legacy Hall, Palm Plaza, and the Special Effects Theater will be open during the event.
Words by Emily Cigan @emily.cigan and Amy Harris @thetraveladdictig