Gulfport Harbor’s Christmas lights show is a go with COVID-19 rules. What to expect.

The extravagant Christmas light show on the grounds of Gulfport Harbor is on for 2020 with COVID-19 restrictions in place.

This will be the sixth year for the Gulfport Harbor Lights Winter Festival, where LED lights attached to giant Christmas trees dance to holiday tunes and LED-lighted displays fill Jones Park.

The festival, sponsored by the city and Island View Casino Resort, also features food, rides and visits with Santa.

The festival of lights, one of the largest in the state, is featured in the Lifetime movie “Christmas in Mississippi.”

General admission tickets will be $10, $5 for ages 5-12 and free for children 4 and under. Tickets go on sale at noon Oct 16. The show runs from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Nov. 27-Dec. 31. It is closed Christmas eve but open Christmas day.

COVID-19 safety features include masks for staff and vendors, hand sanitizer at main entrances, social distancing in lines, masks for patrons on entry and in the area where children visit Santa, and extra hand-washing stations. Children will be allowed to remove masks while taking pictures with Santa.

Anita Lee

Sun Herald

601-909-0638

Anita, a Mississippi native, graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and previously worked at the Jackson Daily News and Virginian-Pilot, joining the Sun Herald in 1987. She specializes in in-depth coverage of government, public corruption, transparency and courts. She has won state, regional and national journalism awards, most notably contributing to Hurricane Katrina coverage awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. Support my work with a digital subscription