2025 Grand Holiday Illumination: December 6 through January 4
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Inaugurated in 2015, the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy's Grand Holiday Illumination has quickly become a New York tradition, and thousands of visitors come to enjoy the spectacle. Come for FREE and see the Walled Garden lit with more than 150,000 lights and listen to holiday music from many traditions.
The 2025 Grand Holiday Illumination opens on Saturday, December 6 at 5:30 p.m. with a dramatic lighting ceremony, and is then open every night through Sunday, January 4, from 4:30 until 8:00 p.m., free to the public with NO RESERVATIONS required. Illumination is OPEN on Christmas Eve and Day, and New Year's Eve and Day.
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A New Event Under the Lights:This year, the Conservancy is establishing a new tradition—the Grand March—which will take place most nights at 7:00 p.m. (see schedule at right) on the lower terrace lawn, weather permitting. Lasting about ten minutes, this guided line dance is appropriate for all ages and promises to be a fun experience that adds warmth and camaraderie to the evening. The dance will be accompanied by lively march music as participants form twosomes, foursomes, a tunnel, a spiral, and a runaround.
The days when the Grand March will take place are highlighted in gold. |
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Try Our New Scavenger HuntExplore the Walled Garden in a whole new way by searching for nine objects scattered amongst the garden’s 150,000 lights.
Can you find everything? Click here to download our free scavenger hunt. |
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Thanks to our 2025 Sponsors
2025 Leadership Support provided by the Yonkers Economic Development Corporation:
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2025 Additional Funding:
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Music of the Illumination
In addition to the classical music associated with Christmas, music from the traditions associated with Indo-Persian gardens and Samuel Untermyer has been selected for the Illumination at Untermyer Gardens. Ancient Persia (550 BCE) was Zoroastrian. Its music may sound strange to many Western ears, but it would have been heard in Persian gardens for over a thousand years. As Persia gradually became Muslim, new music evolved from that tradition. Jewish music reflects the heritage of Samuel Untermyer as well as the ancient story of the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis. Hindu music is included, as it would have been heard in the monumental gardens of Mughal India. Click here for the playlist.