Celebration in the Oaks™
See New Orleans' historic City Park transformed into a
holiday wonderland. Its ancient oak trees are aglow with
massive ornaments along the two-mile driving tour that
is spangled with over two million sparkling lights and
lighted displays. A separate walking tour offers a multitude
of special activities among millions of lights. Celebration
in the Oaks™ is one of the most beautiful holiday
light exhibits in the country, attracting over 500,000
visitors annually.
Dates:
TBA
Admission:
Walking Tour:
Botanical Garden, Storyland, & Carousel Gardens (per
person):
General Admission $5.00
Advanced Group Rate (50 or more) $4.00
Children age 3 and under: FREE
Friends of City Park: FREE
Driving Tour:
Along two miles of City Park streets (per vehicle):
Car/Family Van (public entrance from Wisner Blvd.) $12.00
Advance Group Rate (50 or more) $11.00
RV, Limousine and Tour Van $20.00
Mini Shuttle Bus (Friends/Bus entrance on Marconi Dr.)
$35.00
Bus (Friends/Bus entrance on Marconi Dr.) $60.00
The
Driving Tour
The driving tour features scenes appropriated from the
season and South Louisiana including a 52-foot paddle
wheeler, jazz musicians and a recreation of an Acadian
Village alive with Zydeco music. The Dinobration™
exhibit will include prehistoric raptors racing along
the roadside as motorists pass, and other antediluvian
beasts bounding from behind bushes and scuttling and slithering
down the limbs of City Park’s celebrated live oaks.
The Walking Tour
The self-guided walking tour of the New Orleans Botanical
Garden, Storyland fairy tale playground, and the Carousel
Gardens amusement ride area includes nightly entertainment,
refreshments, and shopping.
James Rice's Cajun Night Before Christmas will come to
life this year in City Park's newest exhibit. Synchronized
lighting and music technology, will be utilized to recreate
this popular modern classic in life-sized lighted scenes.
The show is presented every ten minutes throughout each
evening.
Amusement Rides: The Carousel Gardens
is one of the most popular destinations along the Garden
Walking Tour. Thirteen vintage rides include a roller
coaster that twists through the branches of ancient oaks,
the miniature train that tours the park, and the park's
celebrated antique wooden carousel. Tickets may be purchased
separately for $1, select rides require two or three tickets.
An unlimited ride band is available for $10.
Miniature Antique Train Rides: The train
station is located in the Amusement Area. A train ride
is 3 tickets. The train tour is 2½ miles, includes
the sights along the a portion of the driving tour (but
not all), and lasts approximately 20 minutes.
Broken Egg Café: Serves up cappuccino,
freshly baked cinnamon rolls, gourmet muffins and biscuits
with gravy. Located in the Botanical Garden adjacent to
the Conservatory of the Two Sisters.
CDM Coffee Christmas Café: Warm
yourself on a chilly holiday night with a steamy café-au-lait
or hot buttered rum. City Park Catering will also have
such signature dishes as gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish pasta,
bread pudding and Christmas cookies, as well as a menu
of other palate-satisfying dishes. Located adjacent to
the Entertainment Pavilion in the Carousel Gardens.
Entertainment: Each evening three to
four groups perform at the Entertainment Pavilion in the
Carousel Gardens. Groups include gospel groups, children's
choirs, dancing troupes and many of New Orleans most talented
performers. Updated listings of each night's performers
are available at wwltv.com.
Puppet shows: The Storyland Players presents
"The Three Little Pigs" in Storyland nightly
at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. Included with admission to the walking
tour.
New Orleans Historic Train Garden: The
14,000- square-foot elevated exhibit showcases nearly
40 intricately crafted New Orleans landmark buildings
standing between one and three feet tall including the
St. Louis Cathedral and the Pirate Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith
Shop. All ages delight in watching miniature replicas
of New Orleans' familiar beloved streetcars and an assortment
of steam, diesel and electric garden-scale toy trains
that travel along 1,400 feet of rail within the exhibit.
Located in the Botanical Garden.
Poinsettia Display: A twenty-foot-tall
"Poinsettia Tree" is the focal point of the
Botanical Garden's Conservatory of the Two Sisters rotunda
and provides a great photo opportunity for the family.
The Conservatory also features The Tropical Rain Forest
Room with waterfall and the Living Fossils exhibit with
live garfish.
Visits with Santa November 26 through Dec. 23 from 6 -
9 p.m. in the Carousel Gardens' Santa Gazebo.
Visit is free with admission to the walking tour. Photos
and souvenirs are available for purchase.
A Living Nativity program is presented on several nights
at 7:00 p.m. throughout the event by area schools. Re-enactments
are scheduled for November 28, 29, & 30, December
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, & 16 in the Botanical
Garden adjacent to the Conservatory of the Two Sisters.
Gift Shops: The Friends of City Park
Holiday Gift Shop in the Carousel Gardens and the Garden
Shop in the Botanical Garden are open nightly for special
holiday shopping. The shops will feature Cajun Night Before
Christmas books and merchandise. In addition, Pelican
Publishing's Night Before Christmas Bookshop located in
the Broken Egg Tent behind the Conservatory in the Botanical
Garden offers Cajun and other versions of the Night Before
Christmas on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings.
Gallery of Children's Trees: Children
from 200 area schools have created hand-crafted ornaments
that decorate Christmas trees lining the walkways in the
Carousel Garden & Storyland.
Metro area garden clubs present holiday wreaths in the
Carousel.
Holiday Photos by Images Everywhere:
Make memories instantly with the help of our professional
photographers located "everywhere" on the walking
tour. Packages available nightly in the Carousel Gardens
Amusement area or by visiting Photogra.com.
Horsedrawn Carriage Rides of a portion of the driving
tour. Departs from Victory Ave. in front of Storyland.
Additional fee charged: $10/Adult, $8/Child, $18/person
for private charters (when available, minimum two people).
For additional information or reservations, call Mid City
Carriages at (504) 581-4415.
In addition, several special events are offered throughout
the Walking Tour. See the calendar for events and dates.
The walking tour is wheelchair accessible. A limited number
of wheelchairs are available at the entrances to the walking
tour. Visitors will be asked to leave a valid driver's
license.
Taking The Tours:
There are three options to enjoy Celebration In the Oaks™:
See the entire display by driving through the two-mile
route of City Park roads, parking and taking the self-guided
walking tour of the Botanical Garden, Storyland, and Carousel
Gardens.
Drive through our two-mile route of City
Park without seeing the walking tour.
Park on outlying streets or in Tad Gormley
Stadium and take the self-guided walking tour of the Garden,
Storyland, and Carousel Gardens without seeing the driving
tour.
Walking is not permitted on the driving
tour route; the walking tour displays are not visible
from the driving tour route.
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