It started with one strand of lights in 1925. A century later, the Plaza Lights are Kansas City’s defining holiday ritual: 80 miles of lights and 287,000 bulbs outlining every tower, dome and Spanish-revival arch of the Country Club Plaza, switched on Thanksgiving evening (November 26, 2026) in a ceremony the whole region treats as the season’s true start.
The lights burn nightly through mid-January, best seen on a carriage ride or a slow stroll with hot chocolate, the Giralda Tower glowing like a lantern over it all. Generations of Kansas Citians have marked engagements, homecomings and first snowfalls under these lights.
The switch-on ceremony packs the Plaza’s streets — arrive early, or watch from a rooftop patio.
Some cities light a tree. Kansas City lights a whole neighborhood — beautifully, since 1925.
