The Thoroughbred Christmas lights are a free festival display of hundreds of thousands (millions?) of Christmas lights that cover the majority of the neighborhood between Jennet St. and Thoroughbred St. from December 4 through the New Year.
Over 30 houses participate in the holiday spectacle, featuring Christmas lights, inflatables, and blow molds. And of course, there are the elaborate Christmas trees. It’s not just the trees that are decorated but also the bushes, perfectly wrapped with net lights.
Most of the homes embrace a standard Christmas theme. One of the religiously-themed homes displays the birth of Jesus. Other homes showcase the North Pole and Santa’s village. There is also a “Noel” home adorned with lights and Noel displayed.
Some of the homes featured franchised themes. Two homes have a Star Wars theme. They have fewer Christmas lights and take a more inflatable route. The inflatables showed the various characters and vehicles. Just like most of them, they have snaking lights up the trees.
Similar is the Frozen house. The home has hundreds of blue and white lights throughout the lawn. The lights then snaked their way up the trees. The house’s walls and roofs were covered in the same lights too. At the center are various Frozen characters.
Another home was a Nightmare Before Christmas theme. Purple string lights dart from side to side. Inflatables displayed Jack and other characters. Tombstones and presents on the floor capture the movie perfectly.
One thing is certain for all of them. The lights are beautifully put together. The lights and the other decorations create an elegant orchestra-like display.
One of the biggest downsides is the traffic to get to Thoroughbred Street. The city closes the streets from 5 pm to 10 pm on weekdays and 5 pm to 11 pm on weekends.The display can only be seen in your car. San Bernardino County Sheriff (SBSO) deputies blocked off some of the roads to stop people from roaming around the neighborhood. This creates a long line of traffic. At best, the one-mile course takes around an hour to complete.The wait is boring, especially when the line starts down at Sapphire Street where there are no lights.
Even though the SBSO blocks off traffic, the City of Rancho Cucamonga doesn’t organize the display. It is up to the local community as to how the display of lights looks.
The traffic is helpful for taking pictures of the decorations and fantastic array of lights. Yet the downside is the frustrating traffic which can take hours and at some points make the lights not worth seeing. It’s a beautiful display, yet it takes a huge time commitment to enjoy, requiring a lot of Christmas patience. Got a little brother or sister? You may want to skip it until they get a little bit older.
