Enchant Christmas has returned to the National Park, ready to make Christmas bigger and brighter.

Jill S. Devine December 1, 2021

When it comes to festive Christmas lights, Enchant Christmas takes the lead. Millions of lights are scattered throughout the National Park, and the unimaginable light maze will wake up your inner child in time before the holiday.

The DC version of Enchant Christmas is one of only four versions in the United States. From November 26th to January 2nd, you can get lost in a dazzling maze, wander under towering forests, glide along icy paths, and enchant villages with local merchants.

Enchant founder and CEO Kevin Johnston (Kevin Johnston) began his career as a teenager, spreading holiday joy. It was in 2008, when he and his best friend Cam Walker started installing holiday lights for neighbors in Vancouver, British Columbia. Today, they create immersive lighting experiences at Enchant Christmas venues and hotels, resorts, communities, shopping centers and airports in the United States and Canada.

The concept of all this stems from a conversation at dinner. When Walker's wife thought of a light maze, Johnston was very interested and built a prototype in his parents' backyard—a fence made of a string of lights and a stereo package. The first Enchant Christmas held in Vancouver in 2016 was so successful that crowds and traffic flooded the city's infrastructure, so it was not allowed to be held in the second year.

Gazing upward from the inside of the 100-foot-tall animated Christmas tree can be dazzling. "We basically turned the whole tree into a video screen, and our internal content creators made this screen come alive; it was fascinating both inside and out," said Jared Schmale, Enchant's creative director. The tree is fixed by 40,000 pounds of concrete, has 45,000 individually controlled LED lights, and it takes four days to build. Added this year is a 300-foot animated light wall that extends the entire site, plus a 240-foot golden corridor.

There is a perfect place for marriage proposal... We are just saying that what you can do is worse than putting the problem under a huge stainless steel diamond ring, which is polished into a mirror-like reflection.

This requires hordes of elves to complete. A company with 80 employees and more than 100 on-site employees would spend at least two weeks setting up the illuminated displays, then assemble them in dozens of containers, and then assemble them. The Enchant Christmas event employs more than 1,000 employees and has dozens of unique local suppliers. It is expected that there will be more than 300,000 visitors this year.

Skate on a winding path under the stars. These are real stars, so dress according to the weather. All activities (except for the optional dinner buffet) are completely outdoors, so be prepared for a real winter experience, whether it is raining, snowing or sunny. For only $10, you can rent skates and slide hundreds of feet of tree-lined trails, inspired by one of the creator’s college memories of skating along a forest creek at a hunting lodge in Pennsylvania. Skates that are not allowed to be taken home, it is recommended to book online.

That might be the "magic hot chocolate" you smell, decorated with whipped cream, marshmallows and a miniature gingerbread house. Who can resist an adult cocktail served in a flashing bulb container? Local food vendors, including DC's Ben's Chili Bowl, will offer warm dining options for purchase.

Take your wallet with you. The entrance fee for children (3 to 17 years old) is US$29, for adults is US$39, and the entrance fee for seniors (65 years and older), military personnel and EMS staff is US$36. Infants under 2 years old can enter for free. There is an additional charge for skating or buying photos of Santa’s visit. Then there are various "star" packages, which include everything from priority, no-waiting skating or visiting Santa’s entrance to the lounge to the indoor cafeteria. Book everything in advance on enchantchristmas.com.

Stop here. If you are driving, Enchant management recommends parking your car at GEICO Garage on N Street SE or Garage C on First Street SE.

This story first appeared in our December issue. For more such stories, please subscribe to our monthly magazine.

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