Christmas and Holiday Season-themed events are even more ubiquitous around Southern California than Halloween events — though most of them tend to occupy the same physical territory. Pumpkin patches become Christmas tree lots, haunted houses host holiday concerts and homes and venues that went all-out for ghouls become reliable repositories of angels and nativity scenes. Ironically, the longstanding Calabasas tradition of Nights of the Jack, which we reviewed here just weeks ago, didn’t spawn a Holiday sibling until very recently, in 2020 to be exact. That year, like Nights of the Jack, the inaugural event — Holiday Road — was limited to drive-through attendance because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, it became a formal walk-through event, and this year it has only increased in popularity and notoriety.
Like Nights of the Jack, Holiday Road is hosted at the 600-acre King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas, just west of the 101 freeway where Mulholland Highway meets Las Virgines Road. Attendees of the Halloween event will be pleasantly rewarded by things both familiar and new. The event runs through December 30.
The overall structure and trappings of the event are the same as Nights of the Jack — once parked, attendees are welcomed into an entry area replete with merchandise kiosks, photo ops, an outdoor bar area and some of the best food trucks in all of Los Angeles. A good practice is to eat first, to carb up for the long walk, and follow up with desert afterwards. As the Calabasas nights tend to be wet, and the entry area features soft soil and hay — wear good shoes and dress warmly.
Like Nights of the Jack, you purchase a ticket for an assigned evening time slot, usually from 5:30 on, at Tixr.com. Once on the trail, it’s a festival of music, lights and themed displays scattered across a charming two-thirds of a mile. There’s also a mid-way bar and merchandise kiosk, though it’s worth remembering that bars and food all stop at 9pm.
The first thing big impression along the trail are the light displays which blanket the ranch’s many legacy trees — bright, colorful and unimaginably rich, with hundreds thousands (if not millions) of lights spanning every branch. As a feat of execution, it’s beyond belief. As an artistic exercise, it’s simply delirious.
Themed displays are decidedly different from Nights of the Jacks, as the aim here is to celebrate the season rather than exhibit jack o’lantern artistry. That means displays for everyone — Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and anything else that justifies a celebration of the season.
The amount of Santa Claus-themed fare is also a significant distinguishing factor which makes Holiday Road substantially more kid-friendly and family-friendly than Nights of the Jack. Tthough both events are suitable for kids of all ages, the seasonal flourish here, and the quality of the execution, definitely skews younger and cheerier with its emphasis on elves, toys and all things magic and mirth.
There’s also some wonderfully sophisticated and implemented tech — singing snowmen (or, rather, their heads), the usual series of animated light tunnels, with all-new animations for Christmas and Hanukkah, and a sensationally-lit snow machine experience leading into a wonderful snow-glazed Gingerbread Lane display.
A major themed-highlight for Gen-X attendees (cue the confused looks on kids’ faces while their parents laugh for no apparent reason) is the obvious wink at the name “Holiday Road,” also the name of the popular Lindsey Buckingham tune popularized by the original Chevy Chase film, “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” which emerges in the middle of the trail in the form of the all-too-familiar Griswald family station wagon, as if plucked from the sequel film, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” while still transporting the Griswald family Christmas tree.
When it’s all said and done — you’re back in the food court and probably ready for a few cups of hot chocolate (one of the major treats).
King Gillette Ranch is located at 26800 Mulholland Highway, with the parking entrance off Wickland Road. For more information or tickets, visit https://holidayroadusa.com.
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