Charlotte Five's Readers' Choice

C5 Reader’s Choice: Your guide to the best holiday light displays around Charlotte

The holidays are upon us, and there’s no better way to get into the spirit than marveling at all the lights — from bright, multi-color bulbs to cheery inflatable Santas and everything in between.

After taking nominations for the most dazzling, festive and downright over-the-top decorations at houses around Charlotte, we’ve put together a guide featuring the best holiday displays around Charlotte, as chosen by our readers.

Take a look at the 2025 CharlotteFive Readers’ Choice Best Holiday Displays.

Is your favorite house on the list? If not, send us an email to charlottefive@charlottefive.com with a photo and the address and we’ll add it to our guide!

Waxhaw

Location: 1200 Baron Rd, Waxhaw, NC 28173

More: The High Flying Lights display features tens of thousands of lights synchronized to music. With more than 15 songs, the light show runs from sundown until 10 p.m. daily. Listeners can also tune into 92.5 FM, or the PulseMesh app.

More: Visit HighFlyingLights.com

A nighttime photo of a house covered in an elaborate, synchronized display of colorful LED Christmas lights. The display includes arched lights, various cartoon character figures, stars, snowflakes, candy canes, and several Christmas trees glowing in pink, purple, and white light.
1200 Baron Road in Waxhaw. Neil Heuer

Location: 4032 Highgate Ln, Lancaster, SC 29720

A suburban home at night decorated with a “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” theme. In the foreground, an inflatable Bumble (the Abominable Snow Monster) stands on the lawn holding a string of colorful lights that stretch toward a smaller Hermey the Elf figure. To the left, a large, waving Santa Claus figure stands on the porch next to an inflatable Sam the Snowman. The house is accented with colorful spotlights reflecting off the roof, and a small, glowing green Christmas tree sits near the walkway.
4032 Highgate Lane in Lancaster, SC Scott Newlin
Read Next

Location: 631 Ennis Rd, Waxhaw, NC 28173

More: Visit CharlotteElf.com

A family of four—a mother, father, teenage daughter, and young son — standing together outside at night, smiling. They are posing in front of a brilliant holiday light display where tree trunks and bushes are heavily wrapped in white, green, and multicolored string lights.
Rich and Flor Watson of 631 Ennis Rd. are the runners-up of CharlotteFive’s Readers’ Choice Best Holiday Displays. Alex Cason CharlotteFive

Mint Hill/Matthews areas

Location: 9451 Nuggett Hill Place, Mint Hill, NC 28227; 9450 Nuggett Hill Place, Mint HIll, NC 28227 ; and 9446 Nuggett Hill Place, Mint Hill, NC 28227

Neighborhood: Mint Hill

This nighttime photo captures a section of a large, high-tech light display, dominated by powerful white spotlights shining up into the sky. The display includes a central, large structure lit with bright green and blue snowflake projections, flanked by a glowing, conical blue and green Christmas tree outline.
9451 Nuggett Hill Place; 9450 Nuggett Hill Place; and 9446 Nuggett Hill Place in Mint Hill. Matthew Schowebel
An aerial shot shows a neighborhood road at night lined with cars waiting in a queue to view a dramatic Christmas light display. The scene features multiple houses, trees wrapped in blue and white lights, illuminated Christmas tree outlines, and rows of purple lights creating a visual spectacle in the dark.
9451 Nuggett Hill Place; 9450 Nuggett Hill Place; and 9446 Nuggett Hill Place in Mint Hill. Matthew Schowebel

More: #ChristmasOnTheHill | Three homes decorate together with festive lights synchronized to music.

A family of four—a mother, father, teenage daughter, and young son — standing together outside at night, smiling. They are posing in front of a brilliant holiday light display where tree trunks and bushes are heavily wrapped in white, green, and multicolored string lights.
Rich and Flor Watson of 631 Ennis Rd. are the runners-up of CharlotteFive’s Readers’ Choice Best Holiday Displays. Alex Cason CharlotteFive

Location: 1001 Mountain Laurel Ct, Matthews, NC 28104

A two-story house is densely decorated with bright Christmas lights at night. The roofline and windows are outlined in warm white lights, while the lawn features numerous colorful light-up trees, an inflatable Santa Claus, and nutcrackers. A line of blue lights borders the driveway and sidewalk.
1001 Mountain Laurel Court in Matthews. Deanna

More: Lights on Mountain Laurel | Open 5 p.m. until midnight until New Year’s Eve. Display features a walking path, animated snow globe and 10 hidden elves.

South Charlotte

Location: 1232 Sydney Dr, Charlotte, NC 28270

Neighborhood: St. George Place

A nighttime photograph showing a large, traditional brick house brightly lit up for the holidays. The front yard is densely covered in colorful lights, including red lights on the bushes, multicolored string lights on the trees, and a central tree illuminated with a vibrant green light. Small illuminated snowmen figures are also visible near the sidewalk.
1232 Sydney Dr in Charlotte. Braden Weeks

Location: 3100 Shaker Dr, Charlotte, NC 28210

Neighborhood: Mountainbrook

A two-story home brightly decorated for Christmas at night. The lawn features a large display with a glowing green archway tree, a lit-up sign counting down the days until Christmas, several candy cane lights lining the sidewalk, and numerous brightly colored figures and wrapped light bushes.
3100 Shaker Drive in Charlotte. Tonya Russ Price CharlotteFive

Location: 3113 Landerwood Dr, Charlotte, NC 28210

Neighborhood: Mountainbrook

A holiday display set within a dark, dense wood line. The scene features illuminated cutouts of Christmas characters, including a reindeer, Santa, and a snowman, standing among the trees which are partially lit from below by white spotlights.
3113 Landerwood Dr in Charlotte. Tonya Russ Price CharlotteFive

Location: 3000 Wamath Dr, Charlotte, NC 28210

Neighborhood: Sharon Woods

A single-story brick house at night with a whimsical holiday light display focused on inflatable and cutout characters. The lawn features several nontraditional Christmas figures wearing Santa hats, including an octopus, a blue alien-like character, and a snowman, alongside heavily lit bushes and trees.
3000 Wamath Drive in Charlotte. Tonya Russ Price CharlotteFive

Location: 7323 Sherwood Forest Dr, Charlotte, NC 28226

Neighborhood: Olde Providence South

More: Donations go to St. Jude’s Hospital

A highly dense and complex holiday light display covering the front of a home at night. The scene includes massive light-wrapped trees, an illuminated sleigh and reindeer, large light-up snowflakes suspended from the trees, and a sign asking for donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
7323 Sherwood Forest Dr. in Charlotte. Tonya Russ Price CharlotteFive

Location: 1410 Hillwood Ct, Charlotte, NC 28210

Neighborhood: Starmount

A very dense nighttime Christmas display features a large collection of inflatable dachshund dogs in Santa outfits, along with other novelty characters like Jack Skellington. The inflatables brightly light up the front lawn of a one-story house against a backdrop of dark trees and shrubs.
1410 Hillwood Court in Charlotte. Nancy Betler

North Charlotte

Location: 2020 Mecklenburg Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205

Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood

A dark, evening photo of a festive and humorous holiday display. The main house is decorated with white string lights, and an inflatable Santa is perched in the attic window. On the front porch, a life-sized skeleton figure, also wearing a Santa hat, stands near a small wreath, blending Halloween and Christmas themes.
2020 Mecklenburg Avenue in Charlotte. Melissa Oyler CharlotteFive

Location: 2101 Wilhelmina Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205

Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood

A playful nighttime photo showing a woman mimicking the excited, wide-eyed expression of a large inflatable cutout of Buddy the Elf from the movie Elf. Behind them, the lawn is completely filled with a large collection of colorful, inflatable Christmas characters, including Santa, snowmen, and animals.
Molly Carroll and an Elf movie inflatable at her home at 2101 Wilhelminia Avenue in Charlotte. Alex Cason CharlotteFive

Location: 2213 Winter St, Charlotte, NC 28205

Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood

A front yard illuminated by a dense installation of towering, luminous pink and red candy cane decorations. The path of candy canes leads up to the entrance of a small, single-story home with a wreath on the front door, creating a whimsical and surreal holiday scene.
2208 Winter Street in Charlotte. Tonya Russ Price CharlotteFive

Location: 1823 Belvedere Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205

Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood

A close-up night view of a porch decorated with glowing snowflake lights and an address number ‘1823.’ The front lawn features a brightly lit scene of inflatables, including a large green wreath archway, a traditional Santa Claus, a cheerful snowman, and a comical llama figure. Red, curved candy cane lights border the front of the display.
1823 Belvedere Avenue in Charlotte. Melissa Oyler CharlotteFive

Location: 1820 Chatham Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205

Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood

More: #SantasOnChatham

A front yard decorated at night with a whimsical Christmas display featuring multiple oversized red mailboxes on candy-cane striped posts, a small mailbox labeled ‘Letters to Santa,’ and a sign detailing instructions. The porch of the house behind the display is lit with blue and white lights.
1820 Chatham Ave in Charlotte. Tonya Russ Price CharlotteFive

Location: 215 N Linwood Ave, Charlotte, NC 28216

Neighborhood: Thomasboro-Hoskins

215 N. Linwood Avenue in Charlotte.
215 N. Linwood Avenue in Charlotte. Alex Cason CharlotteFive

Location: 7202 Reedy Creek Rd, Charlotte, NC 28215

Neighborhood: Bradfield Farms

A two-story house is covered in an elaborate, multi-colored Christmas light display featuring neon-style outlines of snowmen, trees, and snowflakes. The vibrant lights line the roof, driveway, and front lawn, creating a glowing spectacle against the dark night sky.
7202 Reedy Creek Road in Charlotte Nancy Aguero

Concord

Location: 3838 Bent Creek Dr SW, Concord, NC 28027

A two-story brick and siding house is completely covered in a maximalist Christmas light display at night. Bright white lights outline every roofline, window, and gable. The lawn is filled with glowing decorations, including a Grinch figure, a light-up nutcracker, a neon blue reindeer and sleigh, and several cone-shaped “mega trees.” A large tree in the yard is wrapped in multi-colored lights with glowing ornaments hanging from the branches. A long driveway is lined with a colorful light border leading to more blow-up figures, including a large snowman and a Santa in a sleigh.
3838 Bent Creek Dr SW in Concord Natalie Kubicek

Lake Norman

Location: 10996 Sunstone Circle, Davidson, NC 28036

Neighborhood: Davidson

A couple smiling and posing for a photo in front of their home, which is covered in an elaborate and colorful holiday light display. The foreground features numerous small glowing snowmen, candy canes, and blue lights, with the house façade brightly lit in the background.
Wendy and Darin Hall at 10996 Sunstone Circle in Davidson. Alex Cason CharlotteFive

Melissa Oyler contributed.

Editor’s note: Neighborhoods are listed per Google Maps.

Uniquely Charlotte: Uniquely Charlotte is an Observer subscriber collection of moments, landmarks and personalities that define the uniqueness (and pride) of why we live in the Charlotte region.

The CharlotteFive holiday lights guide is sponsored by Charlotte Trimlight.

This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM.

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Tanasia Kenney
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Tanasia is a service journalism reporter at the Charlotte Observer | CharlotteFive, working remotely from Atlanta, Georgia. She covers restaurant openings/closings in Charlotte and statewide explainers for the NC Service Journalism team. She’s been with McClatchy since 2020.
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