Christmas lights in Middletown, Kentucky

We track 3 displays in Middletown — the 2nd-densest city for lights in Kentucky. Every one of them is free to visit.

When to go

Displays here switch on around sunset. In Middletown that means about 4:22 PM in early December and 4:23 PM by mid-month — the earliest sunsets of the year fall right in the middle of lights season. It is properly dark by about 4:53 PM, which is when the displays look their best. December nights in Middletown typically drop to around 24°F.

Date	Sunset	Fully dark
Dec 1	4:22 PM	4:51 PM
Dec 15	4:23 PM	4:53 PM
Dec 25	4:28 PM	4:57 PM

The Middletown lights loop — 3 stops

We ordered every display in Middletown into the shortest sensible driving loop: roughly 0.6 miles and 14 minutes of driving, before you count time spent parked and looking. Start wherever is closest to you and follow it round.

First Baptist Church Middletown Christmas Lights — First Baptist Church, Middletown, KY
Christmas Lights at Wetherby Park — Wetherby Park, Middletown, KY
Light Up Middletown — Middletown, KY

Driving estimate assumes a 25 mph average on residential streets plus four minutes stopped per display. Straight-line distances with a road-network allowance — treat it as a planning figure, not a satnav route.

Practicalities

Residential displays have no facilities of their own — no parking, no toilets, nowhere to warm up — so it is worth knowing what is around. Within about three miles of the Middletown cluster, OpenStreetMap maps 0 public car parks and 0 public toilets. Only 24 cafés or takeaways nearby, so bring a flask if you want one. Note the lack of public toilets in particular if you are taking children.