Osage Beach's City Park Lights Are Back This December. Here's How the Lake's Holiday Season Fits Together

The lake's holiday season starts Friday night in Laurie and ends there on Jan. 10, 2027. The Enchanted Village of Lights opens first, and the Festival of Lights at the National Shrine of Mary closes last. For the month of December only, Osage Beach joins in. After a smaller display at City Hall last year, the city's drive-through Holiday Light Park is back at Osage Beach City Park from Dec. 1 through Dec. 31, so for those 31 nights drive-through lights run on both the east and west sides of the lake.

On the water, many places are shut for the winter. Redhead Lakeside Grill says on its website that it is closed for the 2026–27 winter season and expects to reopen in March 2027. That's why the evening calendar between now and New Year's runs through fairgrounds, a church campus, a city park and the Bagnell Dam Strip.

Why Osage Beach City Park went dark, and what it took to light it again

Osage Beach's display didn't skip a year by choice. KRMS reported in August that last year's smaller version went up at City Hall because of aging inventory and wiring issues at City Park. Parks Director Eric Gregory told the station the city had originally planned to wait another year:

"Originally we were going to bring them back next year, but we've kind of switched some gears around and I think we're going to be able to make it happen. I'm getting electrical upgrades and we're ordering new lights and yeah, I think we're going to be able to make it happen."

The city's paperwork matches the plan. Osage Beach posted an invitation for bids on Christmas lights in June 2026, with bid documents for Christmas lighting poles, and the bid closed July 16. In the same KRMS interview, Gregory said the city also planned a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus this season.

The Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau lists the display as "coming back for the 2026 holiday season." It's a free drive-through at Osage Beach City Park, 950 Hatchery Road, open 5 to 9 p.m. nightly from Dec. 1 through Dec. 31, weather permitting, and donations are accepted. The city's Holiday Lights page is the place to check on a rainy or icy night.

The short run matters for planning. Osage Beach is the only one of the three drive-through displays that stops at the end of December. The two in Laurie keep going into January.

Laurie opens the season and closes it

The 32nd annual Enchanted Village of Lights opens Friday, Nov. 20, at the Laurie Fairgrounds, 269 Fairgrounds Road, and runs through Jan. 2, 2027. The City of Laurie's event listing names Dave Shipp and Susann Huff as organizers. The city's display page calls it Central Missouri's largest drive-through Christmas light display, with more than 100 full-color displays along the roads of the 27-acre fairgrounds. Entry is free, and donations help the city keep putting it on. Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. nightly and until 10 p.m. on weekends.

The Festival of Lights at the National Shrine of Mary, Mother of the Church, 176 Marian Drive in Laurie, opens on Thanksgiving evening, Nov. 26. It runs nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. through Jan. 10, 2027, longer than anything else on the lake calendar. The Shrine and St. Patrick Catholic Church describe it as one of the lake's longest-running holiday traditions. Fr. Fred Barnett started it decades ago. Visitors can drive the lighted route around the campus, or park and walk the grounds of the Mothers' Shrine. Admission is free.

On Friday evenings in December, volunteers hand out free hot chocolate and candy canes from 5:45 to 8 p.m., according to Lake Expo's event listing. Those Fridays are Dec. 4, 11, 18 and 25.

With both displays in the same town, a single trip to Laurie covers the two longest runs of the season. The fairgrounds close an hour earlier than the Shrine on weeknights, so the fairgrounds work better as the first stop.

The season, night by night

The schedule is staggered. Laurie's displays come on first, December is the only stretch when all three run together, and the Shrine finishes alone in January.

All three displays are free, and the hours overlap from 5 to 9 p.m. Anyone who wants to see the full lake circuit in one season has the 31 nights of December to do it.

Two parades, one on each side of the lake

The parade calendar follows the same east-west split.

The west side goes first. The Lake West Chamber's 25th Annual Lighted Christmas Parade is Saturday, Nov. 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. The route starts at Central Bank in Laurie and ends at Laurie Terrace Mall, according to the chamber's event page. The Shrine's lights will have been on for two nights by then, and the fairgrounds display for more than a week, so parade night and a drive through the lights fit into one evening.

The east side follows two weeks later. The 42nd Annual Lake of the Ozarks Christmas Parade rolls down the Bagnell Dam Strip on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m., with lineup at 11:30 a.m. This year's theme is "Americana Christmas." After the parade, Santa greets children on Luby's Stage at Luby's Plaza with gifts for each, and there's a sweets table, according to Lake Expo. Lineup gathers at the junction of HH and Bagnell Dam Boulevard. Entry details are on the parade's site.

The Strip parade is a daytime event, so the evening is still open. Osage Beach City Park's lights come on at 5 p.m. that same Saturday.

Holiday nights on the water

Celebration Cruises runs the Christmas on the Lake Charity Cruises from 1009 Bagnell Dam Boulevard in Lake Ozark. Boarding is at 5:15 p.m., the boat leaves at 6 and it returns at 8. Tickets are $55 per adult and $35 per child, and reserved tables are available. The cruises include onboard entertainment and light appetizers, and drinks are available for purchase. The listed dates:

1. Friday, Nov. 27 and Saturday, Nov. 28
2. Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 3–5
3. Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 10–12
4. Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 17–19
5. Saturday, Dec. 26

Dec. 12 is the date that lines up with the most. The Strip parade starts at 1 p.m., and the cruise boards on Bagnell Dam Boulevard at 5:15. Booking and contact details are on Celebration Cruises' website.

A weekend in Camdenton, and one more drive-through farther north

The first weekend of December has a third option between the two parades. Christmas Village at Old Kinderhook, 678 Old Kinderhook Drive in Camdenton, runs Dec. 4–6 with hayrides, Santa activities, holiday movies and other public events. That Friday, Dec. 4, is also the first of the Shrine's cocoa-and-candy-cane nights in Laurie.

North of the lake, Versailles Unity of Lights runs at Versailles City Park from Nov. 26 through Jan. 1, 2027, and appears on the CVB's events calendar. Its season lines up almost exactly with the Shrine's opening night and the fairgrounds' closing weekend.

Planning the circuit by side of the lake

West side, any night from Nov. 26 on. Start at the Enchanted Village of Lights at the Laurie Fairgrounds, then go to the Festival of Lights at the Shrine, which stays open until 10 p.m. On a Friday in December, get to the Shrine by 8 p.m. for the volunteers' cocoa table. Add Nov. 28 for the Lake West parade.

East side, December only. Osage Beach City Park runs 5 to 9 p.m. through Dec. 31, weather permitting. Pair it with a charity cruise night from Lake Ozark, or with the Strip parade on Dec. 12.

After Christmas. Osage Beach goes dark after Dec. 31, the fairgrounds close Jan. 2, and the Shrine's Festival of Lights is the last display running, through Jan. 10. If guests are staying at the lake into the first week of January, Laurie is the place to take them.

Our Lake of the Ozarks neighborhood guide covers the lake year-round. If your place sits empty between holiday weekends, our earlier post on winter comfort at LOTO covers keeping it warm and protected until you're back.

The team at Locate KC works with lake owners all year, including the slow months between holiday weekends. If you're wondering what your Lake of the Ozarks home is worth before spring, request a free home valuation and we'll put the numbers together while the docks are quiet.