Drive-through Riverhead Holiday Light Show returns for 2020 with new displays

The drive-through Riverhead Holiday Light Show is set to return this season, giving families a contact-free way to take in some festive spirit.

"We knew that as a drive-through light show, patrons arrive safely in their own vehicles and, therefore, are never exposed to other individuals attending the show," explains Andrew Adams, chief operating officer of BOLD Media, the company running the annual event.

Billed as "the largest drive-through light show in Suffolk County," the event will take place at Long Island Sports Park in Calverton and will run Thursdays through Sundays, Nov. 19 through Dec. 30. The program is roughly 20 to 25 minutes in length, during which families will be able to drive along a path that runs between light-up displays that represent Christmas, Hanukkah and seasonal scenes. The lighting is then synchronized to music which can be heard via radio. Now arriving for a third year, those who have attended in the past can expect lots of new things to see, as Adams says, "about half the show is made up of never-before-seen displays."

Organizers are expecting its popularity to swell this year due to the pandemic, so Adams recommends that the "best way to avoid the long lines to get into the show is to come during off-peak hours, on a Thursday or Sunday night, or later in the evening."