How Other Cities Light Their Skylines for the Holidays

Chattanooga puts on a great show with the Grand Illumination.

See our story from Friday.

You use what you've got.

And for us, that's the River.

But it never hurts to see how other communities do the same thing.

After all, every city needs a seasonal downtown event to bring in the shoppers.

So I've collected a few such celebrations from around the country to see if we can pick up any pointers.

Louisville, KY

Louisville also has a riverfront like Chattanooga's, but their lighting ceremony happens downtown.

It features lots of lights on lots of trees.

The capper is a 14 minute, coordinated music and light show that drew 75,000 people.

Indianapolis, IA

Indianapolis has the circle of lights.

Four thousand lights turn the city's Monument Circle into a giant Christmas tree.

Cue the fireworks.

St Paul, MN

The Twin Cities are always competing.

St. Paul ushers in the season by turning Rice Park into a well-lit Christmas tree lot.

The Park features a Blue Spruce with 30, 000 lights and an Ice Skating Rink.

They also like to use pyrotechnics!

Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis counters with the annual Holidazzle parade.

The floats depict nursery rhymes and holiday stories.

And it runs through downtown every weekend through Christmas.

Denver, CO

But for sheer light power, you can't top Denver.

They light their city and county buildings each year.

And it's one of the largest displays in the world, with over a million lights.

Seattle, WA

In Seattle, they light everything.

There is a giant tree at the Westlake Center, the Qwest carousel and the Macy's Star.

They put a tree on top of the Space Needle and light other prominent buildings in red and green.

Dallas, Texas

Leave it to Texas. 

There most impressive light show doesn't come from the goverment.

It comes from a subdivision.

This display in a Denton County subdivision started with one obsessed home owner.

But now his neighbors have plugged into the show, and more are coming.

So what did we learn?

The boat parade stands out fairly well.

But Chattanooga, there are more than just white when it comes to light colors!