Date posted: 10/27/2011
Winter Wonderland in St. Joseph
Tags: lights st. joseph holidays holiday park south pole
Celebrate the holidays with friends and family at a festive winter wonderland. Each year, St. Joseph is the place to be, with its fantastic display of holiday lights and friendly atmosphere that make up the “South Pole”. Over 100,000 people visit annually to drive through the amazing array of lights and holiday decorations. The Holiday Park is actually the largest collection of holiday lights in Northwest Missouri! The park is decorated by volunteers who have given numerous hours of time over the years to make it such a big success. Sponsors have helped out in a big way as well with many donating entire displays! A church has taken over the nativity scene and is responsible for putting it up. Many other people in the community have bonded together to show pride for the holiday park as well.
The Holiday Park in St. Joseph began as a dream when a group of locals approached the Parks & Recreation Director about improving the city’s holiday traditions. Despite the department’s small budget, the director agreed as long as decorations could be put up by volunteers and donations would be made by local organizations. Since then, the park has been able to not charge admission for visitors and even hands out Cherry Mashes to everyone at the end! Originally, live animals and people would be in the nativity scene and perform but ultimately that tradition ended. Eventually computerized action and electronic accessories were added to the holiday display. Fish jump in the lagoon and a snowball fight occurs! With new technology, the displays take on a whole new light.
Check out the St. Joseph Holiday Park & South Pole this holiday season! The display opens on November 25 and runs until January 2. For more information and event hours, please visit the City of St. Joseph, Missouri website.
