by North Forty News Staff | NorthFortyNews.com
Annual drive-through holiday tradition brings new animated features and supports outdoor programs for local youth
Colorado Youth Outdoors (CYO) will reopen its 50-acre NoCo Winter Wonderland on November 27, bringing a brighter, more animated holiday experience to Northern Colorado families while supporting year-round youth outdoor programs.
This year’s expanded drive-through display includes 22 moving-light features and more than 500,000 lights illuminating the nonprofit’s 220-acre campus southeast of Fort Collins, with new animated elements including a train engine, a car wash, and an elf whose holiday lighting mishap is straight out of a classic Christmas comedy.
Families can enjoy the 15-minute, one-mile route from 5:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, November 27–December 14, and nightly from December 18 through December 31. Tickets are $25 per vehicle, available at:
https://coloradoyo.org/events/
CYO Executive Director Luke Brough said the holiday tradition reflects the organization’s mission to strengthen family connections. “The magic of NoCo Winter Wonderland is the joy it brings to families,” Brough said. “It’s the same kind of joy we’re lucky to see every day at CYO when a child reels in their first fish or finally hits the bullseye.”
The display sits on CYO’s property at 4927 County Road 36, visible from I-25 near Timnath. Volunteers contributed more than 1,500 hours to design and build this year’s show, beginning work in June and installing major features through the fall. Additional support came from Chevron employees and CYO’s dedicated Sportsmen volunteer crew.
One of this year’s most complex new displays—a 21-circuit animated “electrocuted elf”—was handcrafted by volunteer Van Howbert, who has worked on CYO’s moving-light displays since 2021. “It’s meticulous work, and over the years I’ve learned a lot,” he said.
Brough emphasized that the event is intended to bring the Northern Colorado community together. “It’s extremely rewarding to create an event designed to bring families together, from infants to great grandmas,” he said. “We invite the public to experience the magic of NoCo Winter Wonderland.”
Find more information or purchase tickets at https://coloradoyo.org/events/.
Source: Colorado Youth Outdoors
