Christmas Lights in Tulsa: 2026 Dates and Displays

Christmas lights in Tulsa come down to a short list if you only count calendars an organizer published for this winter. In October 2026 that list was Botanic Garden of Lights and Rhema Lights in Broken Arrow, plus a November 12 kickoff on Visit Broken Arrow’s Christmas page. Philbrook Festival, Utica Square’s Lights On, and any Gathering Place light program were still unpublished. October’s haunts are in the Halloween planner. The weeks before the lights are in the fall guide. Rankings live on Best Of. If a door time moves, the organizer’s site wins.

Christmas lights in Tulsa with a 2026 date on the page

These are the displays where the 2026 nights, hours, and prices were written by the people who run them.

Botanic Garden of Lights

Tulsa Botanic Garden lists Botanic Garden of Lights on select nights from November 27 through December 30, 2026, 5–9 p.m., at 3900 Tulsa Botanic Dr, Tulsa, OK 74127. The open nights are November 27–29, December 2–6, December 9–13, December 16–23, and December 26–30. The garden is closed December 24 and 25. Phone: 918-289-0330.

Tickets are timed, at 5, 6, 7, and 7:30 p.m. The FAQ says a ticket cannot be scanned before the printed time. The example is a 5 p.m. ticket used at 5:30. The garden recommends buying ahead and does not guarantee door tickets.

Published 2026 prices, before tax and fees:

Non-members: $20 for ages 16 and older, $9 for ages 3–15
Members: $16 and $8 for those same ages
Ages 2 and under: a $0 ticket is still required

The same page prints two different group-rate tables. Both say a group of 20 or more must share a date and time and buy at least 48 hours ahead through events@tulsabotanic.org. Use the email instead of either table.

Included with a ticket: Santa and a sleigh in the Stanford Family Liberty Garden, November 27–December 23, 5:30–8:30 p.m. Bring a camera. Carolers on December 3, 10, and 17, with Tulsa Opera at 6:30 p.m. on the 17th. Sunday jazz in the Cocoa Cabin, 6–8 p.m. on November 29 and December 6, 13, 20, and 27. Winter characters December 26–30. Cocoa and food are for sale. The garden is cashless, and outside food and drinks are not allowed.

Closings are limited to hazardous weather or roads. Tickets are non-refundable and can be moved if a later slot is open. Pets are limited to ADA service dogs. Wheelchairs are loaned first come, first served. Museums for All free tickets, while supplies last, are at the door for a SNAP or WIC card plus photo ID, and for Oklahoma foster families with the foster parent card.

If the garden closes, use the rainy-day kids guide. Discovery Lab is a separate indoor ticket inside Gathering Place.

Rhema Christmas Lights in Broken Arrow

rhemalights.org dates the display to 1982, on the 110-acre campus at 1025 W Kenosha St, Broken Arrow, OK 74012 (71st/Kenosha, between 145th/Aspen and 161st/Elm). The site describes millions of LED lights, a gingerbread scene, a 50-figure nativity, and trees and snowflakes set to music. It also says the display draws nearly half a million people a year. That headcount is the organizer’s.

The calendar:

Wednesday, November 25, lights on at 6 p.m. November 25, 2026, is a Wednesday, which matches the page.
November 26 through January 1, 2027, 5:30–11:30 p.m. every night, which includes December 24 and 25.

Admission is free. You can walk or drive. The park area is walking only. Parking is free. Pets are turned away. The FAQ says the lights stay on in rain, snow, or ice.

The Rhema Express is the paid ride: $10 for ages 13 and older, $5 for ages 4–12, free for ages 3 and under. No reservation. Cash or card. First come, first served. Train hours are 6–11 p.m. on November 25 and 5:30–11 p.m. after that, through January 1. Boarding is across from Rhema Park, at the south end of Rooker Memorial Auditorium. The stand sells hot chocolate, cider, coffee drinks, and fair food. Phone: (918) 258-1588, ext. 2314.

Rhema sits outside the in-city free things to do in Tulsa list. The lights are the free part. The train is the paid part.

Broken Arrow’s Rose District on November 12

The suburb’s downtown kickoff is two weeks before Rhema opens. Visit Broken Arrow says “Mark your calendars: November 12, 2026!” and calls the tree lighting and kickoff Thursday, November 12. That Thursday checks out. The hub excerpt has no ceremony start time, and the detail link forwards to a Facebook post. Read that post for the lighting time.

Carriage rides on the hub are clearer:

Thursday, November 12, 6:30–8:30 p.m., labeled Holiday Kick-Off
Friday, November 20, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 28, 6:00–8:00 p.m.

Friday, December 4, is named too, and the excerpt cuts off before an end time. That detail link also forwards to Facebook.

Christmas Bingo runs November 12–December 27, 2026, drawing December 29. No purchase is required for a stamp, and winners must be 18. The Rose District page lists a merchant decoration contest and puts Centennial Park at 102 S Main St. The parade is announced for the district without a date in the excerpt, and the link goes to the BA Civitans Facebook profile. Last year’s dates live on the separate 2025 page: November 13 and December 6, 2025.

Drive-through shows with a site and no season dates

Jolly Lane Lights at the Admiral Twin

Jolly Lane Lights is a drive-through at the Admiral Twin, 7355 E Easton St, Tulsa, OK 74115, off Route 66. The site describes a route of over a mile, songs, an animated tunnel, and a 60-foot tree of lights, and it calls itself Tulsa’s first and largest drive-through show. That wording is the operator’s. Our lists are on Best Of. For the road in daylight, use Route 66 through Tulsa and A Route 66 Day in Tulsa.

Homepage hours are Monday–Thursday 5:30–9:30 p.m. and Friday–Sunday 5:30–10:30 p.m. An $18 price sits beside the description, and a 2026 ornament is also $18. The page never says the show price is per car, and it never prints opening or closing dates. The events page lists December theme nights with no year attached, including Christmas Eve at 5:30–9 p.m. Confirm the season on the ticket link. The site says $1 from each regular ticket goes to local charities.

Castle Christmas, if Muskogee is worth the drive

Castle Christmas is at 3400 Fern Mountain Rd, Muskogee, OK 74401. The page calls the drive-through free and also calls it donation-based. It prints no suggested donation, no 2026 dates, and no closing time. Weekends and Christmas week are when it lists the train, Jordan the camel, s’mores, vendors, Santa, and hot chocolate at Rudolph’s Café. Phone: 918-687-3625. Other drives, with their own limits, are in day trips from Tulsa.

Traditions whose winter calendars are not posted yet

Philbrook Festival

Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Rd, runs Festival as holiday-light nights in the gardens and the villa. philbrook.org did not have this winter’s night list when we looked. Last season did. A City of Tulsa filing covers January 2–3, 2026, and describes Festival Nights with lights, music, cocoa, and Santa. That is the previous run’s closing weekend. A daytime visit is its own ticket, on the museum site and our place page. Philbrook is on the museums list.

Utica Square Lights On

The square’s timeline dates the first Lights in the Square to 1968 and a virtual Lights On to 2020. Our neighborhoods guide puts the square at 21st and Utica. The live events list had no 2026 Lights On in October. Last year is on paper: the City of Tulsa filing is November 27, 2025, 6:30–7:30 p.m., at 1709 Utica Square, a lighting ceremony with a band and Santa. Thanksgiving 2026 is November 26. The square has to name the night.

Gathering Place, and the zoo’s December event

Gathering Place (2650 S John Williams Way) is the free riverfront park on the outdoor parks and family outings lists. Hours and the free-parking line are on the visit page, the same source the free guide uses. We found no 2026 Winter Wonderland. Global Gatherings does list a Holiday Edition for Saturday, December 19, 2–6 p.m., in the ONEOK Boathouse, with more details still coming. The page leaves the year off. December 19 is a Saturday in 2026. The blurb describes performances and activities. River Parks is the longer walk along the same river.

The Tulsa Zoo (6421 E 36th St N) is easy to mix up with a light display because of ZooLIGHTful. The March 16, 2026, news post schedules those lanterns for March 26–June 7, Thursday–Sunday, 6–9:30 p.m., and says the old holiday version ended about 15 years ago. A later menu line shows a different end date, so lantern questions go to tulsazoo.org/zoolightful. December’s dated event is Sweets with Santa on Saturday, December 12, 2026, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., indoors at Rajan’s in Lost Kingdom. Members are $5 and general admission is $10 for ages 2 and older. Ages 1 and under are free. The ticket excludes zoo admission and breakfast. The button said tickets were unavailable when we checked.

None of these nights are on our events calendar yet. That page is what we have already sourced. The displays above stay on the organizer sites until a listing lands here.

How to use the nights that are already published

Thursday, November 12. Rose District kickoff. The carriage window is 6:30–8:30 p.m. The ceremony time is on the Facebook post Visit Broken Arrow links. Rhema opens thirteen days later.
Thanksgiving week. Rhema on Wednesday, November 25, at 6 p.m., then 5:30–11:30 p.m. Botanic Garden of Lights on November 27, 28, and 29, timed and ticketed. Rhema that weekend is the free walk or drive.
The December grid already in print. Garden nights are the blocks above, with December 24 and 25 dark. Rhema’s window runs through January 1, 2027. Jolly Lane, Philbrook, and Utica Square join the list when their own pages print a date.
Saturday, December 12, late morning. Sweets with Santa at the zoo, if the tickets are actually on sale.

Someone in town for the city should still start with the weekend itinerary and the short weekend guide. Pair a lights night with a morning at Gathering Place.

Check the official page the day you go. This one names the nights that were public in October. The organizer can still change them.

Frequently asked questions

When do the Rhema Christmas lights run?

Rhema Lights headlines the run as November 25 through January 1, 2027. The FAQ says the lights come on at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25, then nightly from November 26 through January 1, 2027, from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. Admission is free. The address is 1025 W Kenosha St, Broken Arrow.

What does Botanic Garden of Lights cost in 2026?

On tulsabotanic.org/botanic-garden-of-lights, non-member tickets are $20 for ages 16 and older and $9 for ages 3–15. Member tickets are $16 and $8. Ages 2 and under need a $0 ticket. Those prices do not include tax or ticketing fees. The same page prints two different group-rate tables, so ask events@tulsabotanic.org before you quote a group price.

Where can I see Christmas lights in the Tulsa area without buying a ticket?

Rhema’s own FAQ says admission is free. Parking on that campus is free too. The Rhema Express train is a separate paid ride. Broken Arrow’s Christmas hub lists a November 12 kickoff in the Rose District. Gathering Place is a free park walk, and we did not find a 2026 lights program posted there.

Does the Tulsa Zoo have holiday lights in December 2026?

The December event on tulsazoo.org/santa is Sweets with Santa on Saturday, December 12, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is indoors at Rajan’s restaurant. ZooLIGHTful is the zoo’s lantern exhibit from spring 2026. The zoo’s March news post says the older holiday version of that exhibit ended about 15 years ago.

When is Utica Square Lights On in 2026?

It was not on uticasquare.com/events when we checked in October 2026. Last year’s City of Tulsa filing was for Thanksgiving night, November 27, 2025, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 1709 Utica Square. The square’s history page dates the first Lights in the Square to 1968. Wait for this year’s listing.

Has Philbrook posted Festival nights for this winter?

We did not find a 2026–27 night list on philbrook.org. A City of Tulsa filing for January 2–3, 2026, describes last season’s Festival Nights and holiday lights at 2727 S Rockford Rd. Treat that as last season. Buy this winter’s ticket only after the museum posts the nights.

Filed under christmasholidaysfamilylights