COVID-safe Christmas

Top drive-thru holiday light events making spirits brighter in Dallas-Fort Worth

Like the Grinch that it is, coronavirus has stolen many things from us — but it can't dampen our holiday spirit. Sure, Santa will have to socially distance and the elves will be sanitizing toys. But when it comes to experiencing holiday lights, things are looking merrier and brighter than ever in 2020.

That's thanks to the number of drive-thru Christmas light events that are decking pathways around Dallas-Fort Worth this year.

Driving through mazes, displays, and tunnels of lights is a spectacular — yet safe — way to experience a little holiday magic. Most don't require you to leave the car, and they're contactless from the moment you order tickets online.

While our annual roundup of all the best holiday light displays is still to come, it's already time to load up the car, turn on the festive tunes, and hit the road for these top drive-thru displays.

Radiance! A Holiday Light Spectacular; Frisco, Weatherford, and Decatur, now-January 3
New in three North Texas cities this year, Radiance drive-thru lights experience is more than a mile long and takes 20 to 30 minutes to complete. Visitors can tune their car radios to a special station that will play coordinating holiday tunes as they meander through the light displays on each side of the car and through 160 feet of animated RGB light tunnels. Festive food and beverages, including hot chocolate and holiday cookies, are available for purchase without leaving the car. General admission tickets are $30 per vehicle, and VIP tickets are $50 per vehicle. Locations of all three events and more details are in this story.

Santa’s Country Christmas, Seagoville, now-January 1
Now in its fourth year of operation, Santa's Country Christmas drive-thru lights experience is located on Hwy. 175 in Seagoville, 20 minutes from downtown Dallas. The two-mile drive-thru park includes lights, animals, and music. They'll offer free Santa Claus photos starting Thanksgiving weekend. Admission is $25 per vehicle, purchased at the door. For more information, visit their Facebook page.

Dallas Zoo Lights, Dallas Zoo, November 20-January 3
The zoo has reimagined its annual Dallas Zoo Lights for 2020, so visitors can now drive through a holiday safari of lights in their own vehicles. They promise guests will be able to cruise through a newly constructed pathway while taking in more than 1 million lights in elaborate displays, silk-covered animal lanterns depicting zoo animals, an ice palace fit for a trio of penguins, and more. Then park and stroll through Reliant Holiday Village at the end of the route. Timed entry tickets must be purchased online in advance; $65 per car for non-members, and $50 per car for members. For ticket packages, details, and more, visit the zoo's website.

The Magic of Lights at The Lakefront, Little Elm, November 20-January 2
The Magic of Lights at The Lakefront is a COVID-19-safe drive-thru event in Little Elm Park on the shores of Lewisville Lake. The mile-and-a-quarter route meanders through favorite holiday scenes and characters of the season using the latest LED technology and digital animations. Tickets run $26-$100, depending on vehicle size. (There's a discount if you purchase tickets online rather than at the gate.) For more information and tickets, visit the event's website.

Candy Cane Lane, American Airlines Center, Dallas, November 27-December 26
This all-new event is a multi-level visual Christmas attraction taking over an entire AAC parking garage. Each level combines Christmas outdoor experiences that include a vast array of holiday lights, classic holiday lantern characters, and wonderland surprises around every corner. Visitors can tune into a special playlist of holiday music to accompany the drive. Candy Cane Lane is fully covered, so it can take place rain or shine. Ticket prices are per vehicle and are on sale in limited quantities on the website. It's $35-$50 for General Admission, or $50-60 for VIP, which includes a socially distanced picture with Santa. Read more about the event in this story.

Prairie Lights, Grand Prairie, November 26-December 31
A Dallas-Fort Worth tradition 15 years strong, Prairie Lights holiday light park is returning for 2020 — with some modern updates for the COVID-Christmas season and one special gift for guests: cheaper admission. Per usual, the dazzling display of over 5 million lights, all arranged in festive holiday scenes, will wind for two miles along the shores of Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie. But the park’s out-of-car experience, the Holiday Village — the traditional stop midway through with hot chocolate, cookies, and other goodies for sale — will be replaced by a new drive-thru concession option; Santa also will not appear. Admission has been reduced to $30 per car (up to eight people), and a Fast Pass (line jump pass) is available for $99. Read about tips for ticket purchase, mask-wearing, and more in this story.

Gift of Lights at Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, November 26-January 3
Texas Motor Speedway will once again open its gates to the public for the annual Gift of Lights drive-thru holiday lighting spectacular around the track. The lights experience will include over two miles of light displays, with almost 3 million lights, while visitors get to stay in their warm cars, listening to Christmas music on KLTY. Due to CDC guidelines, they will not host the Santa’s Village this year. Instead, there'll be onsite food trucks that allow guests to order ahead online and pick up for the drive-thru. Tickets are $30-$60 depending on size of vehicle and may be purchased online or at the gate. Check the website for special discounts, tickets, and more.

Interlochen Lights, Arlington, December 18-25
The Interlochen neighborhood will present Interlochen Lights once again during the holiday season. Known as the best neighborhood light show in Texas, the event allows guests to drive through the neighborhood and pick out favorite displays while they tune into holiday music on radio stations 102.1 FM or 98.7 FM. This is one of the busiest spots in Dallas-Fort Worth during the holiday season, and it's free. The route will be the same as previous years. Watch for updates on their website as the event gets closer.

Dallas Zoo Lights will be a drive-thru experience for the first time ever.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Zoo

Dallas Zoo Lights will be a drive-thru experience for the first time ever.

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FIFA World Cup preview

France and Spain set for epic semifinal in last Dallas World Cup match

Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Kylian Mbappe #10 of France celebrates scoring a penalty for the team's first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match between Paraguay and France at Philadelphia Stadium.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kylian Mbappé and France haven’t trailed at all at this year's World Cup. Neither has Spain with teenage sensation Lamine Yamal and clutch goal-scoring substitute Mikel Merino.

Only one of those teams can make it to the final.

France and Spain are both playing at their 17th World Cup, but have met only once previously on soccer’s biggest stage. They play Tuesday, July 14 at the home of the Dallas Cowboys in the first of two powerhouse semifinal matches.

After entering this tournament as FIFA’s top-ranked team, France has outscored its opponents 14-2. Mbappé, the 2022 Golden Boot winner, has eight goals to match Lionel Messi for the scoring lead this time, and is one behind the Argentina captain’s career record of 21 at the World Cup.

“We are focused,” France midfielder Adrien Rabiot said. “We are confident, of course, with the course we have done so far, and we have to be, but always with this humility that has characterized us since the beginning of the competition.”

The 27-year-old Mbappé has 20 goals in his 20 World Cup matches, including one in the 2018 win over Croatia when he joined Pele as the only teenagers to score in a World Cup final. And the star striker for Les Bleus had said he is fine despite exiting in the 77th minute of their 2-0 quarterfinal win over Morocco after scoring a goal.

Lamine Yamal, Spain, World Cup Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain controls the ball during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarter Final match between Spain and Belgium at Los Angeles Stadium.Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images

Yamal, who turned 19 on Monday, has already been part of two semifinal wins with Spain over France. He was just days shy of his 17th birthday when he scored in a 2-1 win during the 2024 European Championship semifinals, and Spain then won 5-4 in Nations League play last year.

“I believe if France has to fear anyone, it should be us, in my opinion,” Yamal said after Spain's quarterfinal victory over Belgium. “We were the ones that knocked them out before.”

The teen has only one goal while putting 10 shots on target after coming into this World Cup still nursing a left hamstring issue that forced him to miss the final weeks of the season for Spanish club Barcelona.

France defender Jules Koundé also plays for Barcelona, so he knows Yamal well and didn't feel disrespected by those comments.

“For me he is a sign of confidence. He always does it with (Barcelona). He trusts a lot in his virtues, in the virtues of the team where he plays,” Koundé said in translated remarks. “So I see nothing as an extra motivation for him and that’s it, that’s all.”

Spain has outscored opponents 10-1 since a stunning scoreless draw against surprising Cape Verde to open group play, but La Roja needed late decisive goals from Merino after he entered the last two games as a second-half substitute. All while goaltender Unai Simón set a World Cup record of 650 minutes without allowing a goal until Belgium found the net in the 41st minute of their quarterfinal game.

“I think that from the first game until today, the team needed to catch the rhythm, we had been without seeing each other for a long time,” Spain midfielder Alex Baena said, adding that with more games and practices “the better the team has been.”

Merino scored in the 88th minute for that 2-1 win over Belgium on Friday. That came after the Arsenal forward’s goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time for the 1-0 win over Portugal in the round of 16 at the same stadium where Spain's semifinal match will be played.

Quartet of past champions
This is the first World Cup since 1990 that each of the final four teams are former champions.

Messi and defending champion Argentina, which beat France for the title in 2022, play England in the other semifinal match Wednesday in Atlanta.

The championship match is Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, across the river from New York City. A third-place game will be played Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Both have raised World Cup trophy since they last met in the tourney
In their only previous World Cup meeting, France beat Spain 3-1 in a round of 16 game at the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Both teams have won the World Cup since then. Spain claimed its only title in 2010, and France won its second World Cup in 2018.

France, which will be playing on its country's Bastille Day national holiday, is trying to join five-time champion Brazil and four-time winner Germany as the only teams to make three consecutive World Cup finals. Brazil did it in 1994, 1998 and 2002 — winning two titles and losing to host France in the middle of that run. Germany’s championship in 1990 came after being runner-up in the previous two World Cups — all playing as West Germany at the time.

Argentina beat France in a penalty shootout in 2022 after playing to a 3-3 draw.

This is France's seventh semifinal appearance, its fifth in the last eight World Cups. Spain's only other semifinals were in 1950 and then 2010 on the way to the title.

Wrapping up in Dallas
AT&T Stadium in North Texas - called "Dallas Stadium" for the tournament - will be hosting its tournament-high ninth game, and in that one-month run there have been some soccer superstar moments in the building that has hosted a Super Bowl and NCAA championship games for football and men's basketball.

Messi scored three goals in Argentina's two group games, the first on June 22 when after missing a penalty kick he broke the World Cup career scoring mark with the first of his two goals in a 2-0 win over Austria. He added another goal as a late substitute in the group finale June 27 against Jordan.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the 41-year-old superstar from Portugal, finished his sixth and final World Cup in the 1-0 round of 16 loss to Spain on July 6.

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