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The best metro Detroit Christmas lights are the houses where you pull up, tune your car radio to their station, and the whole yard lights up in time to the music. They’re free, they’re run by families who’ve been doing this for years, and they’re the best cheap night out of the whole season with kids in pajamas in the back seat.
My top pick is local to us: Marshall Family Lights in Oxford, on 98.9 FM. If you’re in Macomb, start with Lights on 21 in Shelby Township. Downriver, it’s the Albright Family Light Show on Grosse Ile.
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It’s October, and almost none of these families have posted their 2026 Christmas dates yet. Most go live around Thanksgiving or December 1, and they post the news on their own Facebook pages.
So here’s how this list works. The hours below are from last season (2025) unless I say otherwise. Home displays change. Families take a year off, move, or change their radio station. Before you load everyone in the car, check the display’s Facebook page that night, especially if it’s windy or icy. Some of them shut down in bad weather.
I’ll update this post as each one announces.
| Display | Town | Address | Tune to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall Family Lights | Oxford | 659 Thornehill Trail | 98.9 FM |
| Ron and Steve’s Christmas | Ortonville | 1460 S. Sashabaw Road | 87.9 FM |
| The Kurdziels’ Light Show | Novi | 22367 Worcester Drive | 91.1 FM |
| South Lyon Light Show | South Lyon | 690 McMunn Street | 98.9 FM |
| Gaston’s Christmas Lights on Duck Lake | Highland | 1643 Ludean Drive | 91.5 FM |
| Lights on Araby | Highland | 3936 Araby Court | 87.9 FM |
This one is local to us, and it’s the one I’d send you to first. The whole display is synced to 98.9 FM. Last Christmas it ran Sunday through Thursday 5:30 to 10pm, and until 11 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Good news for this year: I drove by this month and they’re already back with their Halloween show. Their Facebook page has the Halloween hours as dusk to 9:30 Sunday through Thursday and 10:30 on Fridays and Saturdays. They took 2024 off, so watch their page for the Christmas start date.
256 channels of LED lights on 87.9 FM. Last season it ran weekdays 5 to 10pm and weekends 5 to 11pm. They ask you to turn your headlights off, and they collect optional donations for OCEF, the local food pantry.
Running since 2016, daily 6 to 10pm last season, on 91.1 FM. They collect toy donations for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, so this is a good one to bring a toy to. Please don’t block their neighbors’ driveways.
More than 50,000 lights and a color-changing tree, on 98.9 FM. Last season it ran dusk to 9pm Sunday through Thursday and until 9:30 on weekends.
Gaston’s Christmas Lights on Duck Lake (91.5 FM) and Lights on Araby (87.9 FM, started in 2017 with more than 100,000 pixels) are close enough to do on the same night. Both of these are from 2024 listings, so double check they’re running before you make the drive.
| Display | Town | Address | Tune to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lights on 21 | Shelby Township | 11190 21 Mile Road | Signs at the house |
| Christine’s Christmas Corner | Shelby Township | 46224 Winston Drive | No radio |
| Vineyard Avenue Light Show | Shelby Township | 46600 Vineyard Avenue | 87.9 FM |
| Wesner Christmas House | Sterling Heights | 40543 Irval Drive | No radio |
| Shamo Winter Wonderland | Sterling Heights | Vineyards Blvd area | 88.1 FM |
| Winter Wonderland on Feral Drive | Macomb | 47971 Feral Drive | No radio |
| LaFrance Family Lights | Macomb | 48128 Sonny Drive | No radio |
| Eiffel Avenue walk-through | Warren | Across from Warren Woods Middle School | No radio |
Lights on 21 is the big one here, a full light show set to music with free self-serve hot cocoa and cider. If there’s no spot out front, park at Whispering Woods Park next door.
Christine’s Christmas Corner has been going since 1986, nightly 5 to 10pm last season. Wesner Christmas House in Sterling Heights is fully decorated and usually lights up around 6pm. Shamo Winter Wonderland works from the car or on foot, on 88.1 FM.
Eiffel Avenue in Warren is a walk-through, nightly 5:30 to 11pm through Christmas last year. A heads up from people who’ve gone: a lot of addresses online lead you to the wrong spot. Aim for the street across from Warren Woods Middle School, near 12 Mile and Schoenherr.
| Display | Town | Address | Tune to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albright Family Light Show | Grosse Ile | 27105 W. River Road | 107.9 FM |
| Perrin Family Lights | Livonia | 11820 Jarvis Street | 95.3 FM |
| Bazillion Lights | Livonia | 29718 Robert Drive | No radio |
| Lyp Family Christmas Light Show | New Boston | 21620 Waltz Road | 102.5 FM |
| Van Buren Lights | Belleville | 45034 Lindsey Drive | 87.9 FM |
| Dearborn Heights light house | Dearborn Heights | 4128 Hipp Street | No radio |
Albright Family Light Show on Grosse Ile usually starts at Thanksgiving and runs 6 to 10pm Sunday through Thursday, 6 to 11 on weekends, on 107.9 FM. Perrin Family Lights in Livonia runs daily 6 to 10pm through New Year’s, on 95.3 FM. One thing to know: their light beams may not turn on when it’s below 30 degrees.
Bazillion Lights has been lighting up Livonia since 1996, just south of Plymouth Road and west of Middlebelt, nightly 5:30 to 9:30pm last season. Lyp Family in New Boston runs the latest of anyone, 5 to 11pm weekdays and until midnight on weekends, on 102.5 FM. The Dearborn Heights house on Hipp Street has more than 80,000 lights and runs a toy drive.
Before you drive out: Northville Symphony of Lights at Northville Christian was on hold in 2025, and so was Ewles Family Lights in Fenton. Busch Family Lights in Livonia cancelled 2025. The Bostick Family Light Show moved from Garden City to Camp Dearborn in Milford and became a drive-through called MI Bright Lights. I’ll update these if they announce a 2026 season.
If you’d rather walk around than sit in the car, these are free and much bigger. These are last season’s dates.
For the ticketed ones, like Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo, Wayne County Lightfest and Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village, I’ve got all the 2026 dates in Michigan holiday events worth the drive.
That’s our tradition: we drink hot chocolate, drive around together and listen to Christmas carols.
Yes. Every home display on this list is free to drive by. Some collect optional donations for a local charity.
The family runs a tiny low-power FM transmitter at the house. You tune your car radio to their station when you’re parked nearby, and the music plays in sync with the lights. It only reaches a block or so.
Most start around Thanksgiving or December 1 and run through New Year’s. As of October 22, most haven’t posted 2026 dates, so check each family’s Facebook page.
Anything you can watch from the car seat. Marshall Family Lights, Ron and Steve’s and the Albright show are all easy from the car, and you never have to unbuckle anybody.
Marshall Family Lights at 659 Thornehill Trail is back with its Halloween show this October. The Christmas show is on 98.9 FM. Watch their Facebook page for the 2026 Christmas start date.
The ticketed light festivals are great, but these houses are free, close to home, and nobody has to get out of the car. Pick a couple close to you, check their page that afternoon, and bring the cocoa.
Know a house that should be on here? Tell us in the Facebook group and I’ll add it.
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