Green Hills is the Nashville neighborhood along Hillsboro Pike, south of downtown. It has its own holiday kickoff on the Lipscomb campus, and some of the area's best-known light shows are a short drive away. Here are the 2026 dates organizers have posted, the ones still to come, and where to drive for lights. Times can shift close to the date, so check each organizer's page first.
Lighting of the Green, Lipscomb University: 2026 date not yet announced
For many Green Hills families, the season starts with Lipscomb University's Lighting of the Green, a free concert on campus that closes as the Christmas tree is lit. The university has not posted a 2026 date yet. In 2025, its 21st year, the show moved indoors to Allen Arena because the green needed maintenance, and Lipscomb said the concert would return outside. Check the Lighting of the Green page for the 2026 date, time and location.
Cheekwood Holiday LIGHTS from November 20
- Date:
- November 20, 2026 to January 3, 2027
- Time:
- 4:30 to 10:00 pm
- Place:
- Cheekwood Estate and Gardens
West of Green Hills, Cheekwood Estate and Gardens opens Holiday LIGHTS on November 20, 2026. Evening hours run 4:30 to 10:00 pm through January 3, 2027. Cheekwood describes more than a million lights along a garden walk of about a mile, plus a holiday installation inside the mansion.
The Belle Meade parade on December 5
- Date:
- Saturday, December 5, 2026
- Time:
- 1:00 pm
Belle Meade holds its 2026 Holiday Parade on Saturday, December 5, at 1:00 pm, and float awards are new this year. The city has not posted the 2026 route yet.
Two bigger shows across town
- Glow Wild at the Nashville Zoo: open each evening, 5 to 9 pm, between November 13, 2026 and January 3, 2027. Santa comes nightly from November 27 through Christmas Eve. Details are on the Glow Wild page.
- Date:
- November 13, 2026 to January 3, 2027
- Time:
- 5 to 9 pm nightly
- Place:
- Nashville Zoo
- Gaylord Opryland: the resort's ice! show, featuring "Home Alone", is part of A Country Christmas, which opens November 6, 2026 and closes January 2, 2027. See Christmas at Gaylord Opryland.
- Date:
- November 6, 2026 to January 2, 2027
- Place:
- Gaylord Opryland
Every date above, plus parades and tree lightings in other towns, is on the Nashville-area holiday lights calendar.
Where to drive for lights near Green Hills
The best-known decorated streets near Green Hills are just to the west and south. City Cast Nashville's December 2025 lights guide names Belle Meade Boulevard and Lynnwood Boulevard to the west, and Brentwood's Princeton Hills, Fountainhead and McGavock Farms to the south. Use last year's picks as a starting point, since displays change.
If you go, drive slowly with low beams, and pull all the way over before you stop to look.
Ranch roofs and taller infill
Green Hills grew up after World War II as brick-veneer ranch houses on large lots, and many of those lots have since been split or rebuilt. That leaves one street holding a long, low ranch eave next to a taller new house with steep gables.
Each shape lights differently. A ranch eave suits one unbroken line that runs the full width of the house. On a taller house, the line has to climb each gable and turn each corner, or the top of the house goes dark. A track cut to fit the roofline handles both.
Permanent roofline lighting for Green Hills homes
Our installers put permanent LEDs in a slim track along the roofline that stays up all year and runs from your phone. Pick red and green for Christmas, then switch to another preset for the next holiday, with no ladder and no tangled strands each fall.
At 6 to 12 hours a day, the system works out to about 10 to 20 years. Most installs need 8 to 10 hours, done by licensed, insured and certified installers. Behind each one stand the manufacturer's 5-year product warranty and our installers' workmanship warranty.
Read more on the Green Hills permanent lighting page. To get started, use the quote form. An installer will call you.