Holiday Lights on the Hill at Pyramid Hill will help bring Christmas to Hamilton when the popular drive-through light display opens on Friday, Nov. 21. This annual, award-winning festive attraction features more than a million sparkling lights and monumental sculptures. The display will run through Sunday, Jan. 4 and will begin at 6 p.m. each night.
Shaun Higgins, interim director of Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park and Museum, said for the second year in a row, the attraction will continue to highlight its new entrance, which features a 50-foot, 30,000-pound sculpture entitled “Passage” by sculptor John Henry. Located right on state Route 128, the new, less hilly entrance is just south of the old entrance.
“This is the second time we have been able to utilize our new entrance for the holiday lights,” Higgins said. “Last year, the entrance was just completed before we started the lights, so this year we’ve actually had a year to plan, adding more to the entrance area. We’re filling in some areas we’ve cleared off within the last year, so we have some new displays as you come up the hill through the new entrance.”
Serving as a major winter fundraiser for the nonprofit park, Pyramid Hill’s park crew has also added some new lights. Crews started late in September, creating trees that shine up to 40 feet in the air and with illuminated sculptures that glow with a lot of color. The park continues to transition to LED lighting. Funds raised go toward maintaining the outdoor sculpture park and the indoor Ancient Sculpture Museum.
“In June, we order thousands of dollars of new lights and we’re also checking lights on rainy days throughout the summer to check our stands and see what we have,” Higgins said. “We’re adding tunnels to the entrance. Basically, we spend two months decorating. The guys who put the lights together take a lot of pride in what they are doing and they enjoy the creativity of making it spectacular.”
In the two-mile round trip, visitors can expect to see light displays close to the road with gardens of light as well as those that go further and deeper into the park’s background and surrounding lakes. Overlooking the Great Miami River in a natural setting, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park and Museum is a nationally recognized 335-acre park that features 60 pieces of outdoor sculpture. The 10,000-square foot Ancient Sculpture Museum features an indoor display of ancient Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Egyptian pieces.
“The holiday light display has gained quite a reputation. It’s an opportunity for guests to see the park in a different light. For some people, it’s their first introduction to the park,” Higgins said.
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