Holidays In Your Car in Ventura

Last Sunday, I drove through CBF Productions Holidays In Your Car at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. We lined up at sunset and waited until the the front car was allowed entrance at 5:30 p.m., then we followed behind for an immersive holiday show.

The Holiday Lights Spectacular runs from November 22 – January 2. Vehicles headlights are turned off, as couples and families drive through a sparkling mile-and-a-half display of over one million dazzling LED lights, accompanied by uplifting holiday music from radio station 96.9 tuned into each car radio.

Along the route, cars enter into some of the Ventura Fairgrounds event buildings to see holiday-inspired holograms of Frosty and Santa, red and green laser light shows and impressive multi-colored projections casting festive images of the season.

There are two evenings where those in cars will get an extra special show. On Saturday, December 12, Holidays in Your Car is offering an outdoor live performance of The Nutcracker. This holiday classic will be performed by the Ventura County Ballet, with both world-class professional dancers and local talent. The lead roles will be performed by Elizaveta “Leeza” Domrachev of Ballet Academy Ventura, who has danced with Russia’s prestigious Perm State Ballet, and Jack Stewart, who has danced globally with State Street Ballet. They will be joined by a number of other professional dancers and 50 highly talented local dance students.

This is one of only a handful of outdoor Nutcrackers performed in the U.S. this year. The two performances are scheduled at 5pm and 8pm, at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Ticket prices start at $99.00 per car.

The Santa Saves Christmas live show is on Saturday, Dec. 19. It’s produced by the creators behind Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical and The Price is Right Live, and is full of holiday cheer, snowy surprises and dazzling performers. There will be two performances scheduled, one at sunset at 4:30 and the other at 7:30 pm.