Celebrate the 75th Diamond Anniversary of Winterhaven: A Holiday Tradition Shining Bright

This article was written by Anna Lineberry and first appeared on Arizona Sonoran News.

Warm up with a cup of  hot chocolate and enjoy one of Tucson’s most iconic holiday events.

Since 1949, the Winterhaven Festival of Lights has been a beloved part of the holiday season, attracting thousands of visitors from Tucson and beyond. 

Winterhaven will kick off its 75th annual festival in the neighborhood near East Fort Lowell and North Country Club roads on Saturday, December 14; it runs nightly from 6 to 10 p.m. through Saturday, December 28. 

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Winterhaven, making it one of the longest-running light festivals of its kind in the country.

Winterhaven resident Patricia Napier said the festival has always held a special place in her heart. 

Napier attended every year as a child and dreamed of one day calling Winterhaven home. 

In 1988, that dream came true when she moved into the neighborhood. She has participated in the festival ever since. 

Over the years, Napier has updated her decorations, with her most memorable display being a decked out fire truck. 

“It is not Christmas until Winterhaven starts,” she said. “I love decorating and I love the happy people that visit every year.”

It’s resident Jim Tofel’s 22nd year participating in the festival and he has been adding to his display each year. It takes around 20 people to help him set it up. 

“We have two separate displays – the Winterhaven zoo and the Disney princesses,” Tofel said. “We have roughly 170 zoo animals, which are all wired together and they each have their own enclosure.”

Tofel continues participating in this event because of how it benefits the community, specifically the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. The festival is the second largest annual fundraiser for the food bank.

“They have volunteers staffed at each entrance to collect donations and they are able to provide tens of thousands of meals for our community’s less fortunate based on the donations received at the Festival of Lights,” Tofel said. “I cannot think of a better nonprofit partner to have during the holidays.”

During the 2023 festival of lights, the Tucson community donated $31,222 and 37,800 pounds of food for the food bank.

It doesn’t cost anything to walk through Winterhaven, but there is a cost if you want to take a hayride through the displays from Winterhaven Rides.

Winterhaven Rides, founded in 2001, originally offered horse-drawn carriage rides but switched to motorized after 2013.

This year, in celebration of Winterhaven’s 75th anniversary, Julie Wycoff, who runs the company with her husband,  hinted at some exciting surprises for visitors, including potential $5 seating for select weeknights.

This event means a lot to Wycoff and her family. She said that her kids grew up going to the festival and her son now helps run the business. 

“The reason we do it is just sheer love,” Wycoff said. “We discussed this year that if we won that big lottery, we were still going to Winterhaven because it’s so beautiful.”

Depending on the day of the week, visitors can book a ride between 5:30 and 9:15 p.m. for $10-$22 through Winterhaven Rides website, winterhavenrides.com or by calling 520-825-0208.  

For more information on Winterhaven, visit winterhavenfestival.org.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.