Vote Bentleyville “Tour Of Lights” America’s Best Public Holiday Lights Display

All of us in the Duluth/Superior area know how fun Bentleyville "Tour Of Lights" is, and so do the tourists that visit during the Christmas season.

Bentleyville "Tour of Lights," America’s largest free walk-through lights display, entices visitors to walk through more than 5 million lights spread across a 20-acre park on the Bayfront park by Lake Superior. You can get your photo taken with Rudolph, visit with Santa and enjoy free cocoa, cookies, roasted marshmallows, and popcorn.

USA Today is asking for your vote for the best display in America. At the time I am writing this, Bentleyville is leading the contest.

Let's show America who has the best display. According to the Bentleyville website, in 2001 Nathan Bentley first started decorating his home in Esko, MN for the Christmas season. For the next two years, he continually added more lights to create a larger holiday light display; his home quickly became known as the “House with all of the lights in Esko.” In 2003 Nathan changed his light display from a “drive-by” to a “walkthrough” with Santa Claus visiting on weekends.

For the past 10 years, it has been located in the Bayfront. Attendance in 2017 surpassed 330,000 people strolling through the light display requiring new parking infrastructure and ways to transport the growing crowds. People park in 4 parking lots and as many as 12 buses transport the guests on busy nights.