Holiday Nights Opening Day (FRIDAY, NOV. 28)
If you’ve visited ZooMontana this month, you would not be able to miss the crews working to put together the return of Holiday Nights. Throughout the zoo, large-scale displays have been slowly coming back to life, and the nearly-30 million lights have been snaking their away across trees, fences, walls and more. Observant Billings residents can often see the glow on the clouds from as far as a few miles away, radiating from the south end of Shiloh. From 5pm to 9pm on Friday, November 28, “Holiday Nights” celebrates its opening day. Organizers say they expect more than 25,000 people to enjoy the lights every year for the month-long display. While some of the famous wildlife residents of ZooMontana are tucked away into their warmer, less-visible homes for the winter, you will be able to still see some of the critters while also enjoying hot cocoa, s’mores, sleigh rides and photo opportunities with Santa. For the first half of December (until December 14th, to be precise), the lights will be open for walkthroughs from 5pm to 9pm from Thursdays to Sundays. After that, it upgrades to the same time every day.
Hardin Christmas Stroll & Parade of Lights (SATURDAY, NOV. 29)
A holiday tradition also returns to Hardin this weekend, if you find yourself traveling to Big Horn County. From 4:30pm to 7:30pm on Saturday, November 29, Downtown Hardin will be aglow with its Parade of Lights and its Christmas Stroll. There’s a significant list of activities embedded in this event, which could also help warm up the cold with its theme: “a tropical Christmas.” With that in mind, you can expect to see the lights parade and the lighting of the community Christmas Tree along with other notes of all things tropical. There will be fireworks after dark, a soup dinner, holiday shopping opportunities, multiple fire pits (with s’mores), pictures with Santa, Christmas crafts, a holiday-themed movie at the theater and plenty of other things to do. It’s a highlight for Hardin.
Pictures with Father Christmas (SUNDAY, NOV. 30)
Just in case you missed out on the other opportunities to get photos with Santa, this event will provide a free opportunity to do so with a unique, historical twist. From 1pm to 4pm on Sunday, November 30, Barjon’s Books at 223 N. 29th Street in Billings is welcoming in “Father Christmas” in the European sense. You can get your holiday card photos with him during those three hours while also, as organizers say, “immersing yourself in European traditions.” While the photos are, indeed, free, you can bring a $15 donation. Organizers say that money is going to help the nonprofit educational efforts of the MusEco Media and Education Project, supporting the remaining programming for this fall and also the programming for spring/summer 2026.
