Sacramento Theatre of Lights

November 27-December 24, 2024

 The nightly performances are Thursday through Sunday from Thanksgiving Eve - Christmas Eve (no show on Thanksgiving) plus two special performance nights, December 23 & 24, 2024, the nights before Christmas that fall on a Monday & Tuesday this year.

Christmas Magic!

Theatre of Lights
K Street between Front & 2nd
Sacramento, CA
Free, oldsacramento.com

Clement Clarke Moore's classic Christmas poem ('Twas the night before Christmas -- scroll down to see the entire poem) comes to spectacular life from Thanksgiving to Christmas on the balconies and facades of Old Sacramento at K Street and Front.

The annual Theatre of Lights (presented by Dignity Health) is a free holiday program presented by the Old Sacramento Business Association in cooperation with Downtown Sacramento Foundation (DSF), the City of Sacramento and Old Sacramento merchants 

Theatre of Lights Sacramento

The live-action retelling of Moore's 1823 poem -- A Visit from St. Nicholas, more popularly known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas -- promises to be bigger and better than ever.

Conceived and created by Stage Nine Entertainment's Troy Carlson, the Theatre of Lights brings some of California's finest talents together in the field of light and sound: Sacramento Theatrical Lighting, Associated Sound and Skywalker Sound, and professional voice actor Bill Farmer, the voice of Disney's Goofy.

Visitors in Old Sacramento can view the production from the center of K Street as the story is performed from the balconies of the buildings around them.

Theatre of Lights Discover how early pioneers experienced the calamities -- and revelry -- that befell the new city in the 1850s, the sounds of the fires, floods and parties will surround the audience as the 150-year-old building facades light up with color.

The highlight of the 20-minute production is a live dramatization of  'Twas the Night Before Christmas, on the balconies above K Street, complete with a special appearance by Jack Frost, and the lighting of the 60-foot Christmas tree by St. Nick himself.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle,
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Events are not guaranteed. It is your responsibility to confirm before going.