By Jessica Isaacs
See the magic of the holiday season come to life as you travel through the annual Festival of Lights at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock, which will feature thousands of sparkling displays every night through the end of January.
Every year, the resort transforms its property into a winter wonderland at Christmastime and invites the community to enjoy the bright and beautiful designs.
The grounds crew spends about 275 hours setting up the displays and hanging the lights each year, which are always illuminated for the first time on the Friday after Thanksgiving during the resort’s annual holiday kick-off weekend.
“The resort is always open to the public, but people love to come by just to see the lights. It’s been a tradition here for many years and we add more stuff to it every year,” said Chetola Marketing Director Marcia Greene. “We have many more displays now than we did 10 years ago.”
Drive through the displays this year and you’ll find a vast array of decorations and designs featuring everything you love about the Christmas season, including ice skaters, Rudolph, Christmas carolers, a horse-drawn sleigh, grazing deer, a nativity scene, a Christmas train, snowmen, trees wrapped in lights, penguins playing hockey and so much more.
“It’s sort of like magic when you go around the lake and see this beautiful setting. You know, Chetola is an incredible scenic place, especially when you can see all of those lights reflected in the lake and against the buildings,” Greene said. “Timberlake’s is the old estate house that dates back to 1846, and it’s one of the buildings that are completely outlined in lights. It’s just a beautiful thing to see over the holidays and it’s really gorgeous when there’s snow on the ground.”
This winter season, Chetola is also offering holiday lodging specials and dinner events on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.
Can’t make it to see the lights before Christmas? No worries! You still have plenty of time to see the picturesque winter beauty at Chetola, because the Festival of Lights will continue through Jan. 31.
“It really is like no other display up here,” said Greene. “It is such a tradition at the resort and it’s great for kids.”
The resort is located at 185 Chetola Lake Drive.
Looking for more information? Call 828-295-5500 or check out chetola.com.
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