Winterhaven neighborhood resident Carolyn Garliepp gets a hand from her 2-year-old daughter Jaelyn McBride setting their Grinch and Nightmare Before Christmas yard decorations for the annual Winterhaven Festival of Lights.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

The Winterhaven Festival of Lights returns for in-person viewing, 6-10 p.m. every day from Dec. 11-26, after cancellation in 2020 due to the pandemic. Admission is free. For more information, go to winterhavenfestival.org

Residents began setting lights this week with help from Cox Communications and Tucson Electric Power. The neighborhood is bounded by Fort Lowell Road, Prince Road, Tucson Boulevard and Country Club Road.

The event was started in 1949 by Winterhaven’s original developer, C.B. Richards, after he visited some similar neighborhood light displays in Beverly Hills, California. The whole neighborhood was designed in hopes of one day being able to host a big holiday festival.

A Tucson Electric Power employee strings lights in the tall pine trees lining the streets of the Winterhaven neighborhood in preparation for a Winterhaven Festival of Lights a few years ago.

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