Santa expects to be busy next week visiting with children at Speedway In Lights

Published 10:06 am Thursday, December 19, 2024

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With only a week remaining until Christmas Eve you can bet that jolly old elf from the North Pole – Santa Claus – is going to be busier than ever meeting with children inside the HSN Christmas Village at the Food City Speedway In Lights powered by TVA at historic Bristol Motor Speedway.

Santa Claus, who has been an important fixture at the signature fundraiser for the Bristol Motor Speedway chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities for nearly three decades, has once again been set up to visit with thousands of children in his wonderfully-decorated Barter Theatre Santa Hut, located inside the iconic NASCAR short track’s infield, since the dazzling light show opened in November.

But with only less than a week remaining until go time, Santa will be working overtime to check his naughty and nice list, and also will be busy putting together a list of Christmas wishes from the thousands of children who share their perfect gift ideas with him. That wish list might include a brand-new bicycle, or a high-tech digital tablet. Perhaps it will be a fun video game console, toy kitchen set, Barbie dream house, or even a new combo game table set.

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Children are able to visit with Santa Claus in the Barter Theatre Santa Hut from 6-10 p.m. each night of the  Food City Speedway In Lights. Santa will continue to be present at the popular holiday light show each night until Christmas Eve (Dec. 24), when the Barter Theater Santa Hut will close for the season at 9 p.m. Of course, Santa will continue working, just at other locations around the world.

The Barter Theatre Santa Hut is located in its usual spot on the back side of the track’s Goodyear building (near turn two) in the HSN Christmas Village. To help families capture the special memory, children who visit with Santa are eligible to have an official portrait created that will be enclosed inside a festive Speedway In Lights framed Brightspeed photo card for $10 each.

After visiting with Santa, the Christmas Village has so many other fun things to explore, including additional photo opportunities in front of several special holiday displays, roasting marshmallows over an open fire, shopping with a variety of local vendors and checking out some great arts and crafts. Several family-friendly midway rides also will be available to provide additional thrills for the kids.

Long-hailed as a premier holiday destination, The Food City Speedway in Lights powered by TVA is comprised of a dazzling five-mile route of more than 3 million lights attached to 300 festive displays that winds throughout the Speedway’s sprawling campus.

The Food City Speedway In Lights route offers more than 40 new displays in its Santa’s Safari collection, and also has two new attractions in the Christmas Village, the Turbo Tube Slide presented by State Water Heaters and SnowMazing presented by Healing Hydration. Guests will continue to enjoy some of their longtime favorite displays, including traditional favorites The Twelve Days of Christmas, Ripley’s Sea of Illumination, Mycroft Signs Race to Space, NASCAR Pit Stop, Dinosaur Land, the beautiful Candelabra, Drag Cars, Victorian Village, Beech Mountain Resort Snowman Maker, the Nativity Scene presented by Visit My Smokies and Toy Land.

The popular King University Symphony in Lights, located in the Darrell Waltrip Grandstands inside the BMS oval, returns to showcase more than 300,000 lights all coordinated to flicker and flash to the tunes of popular holiday music.

The Food City Speedway in Lights has added new dynamic pricing for 2024, where depending on the night of the week and time of the visit, prices for cars will range between $20-35. Guests are encouraged to check the Food City Speedway In Lights webpage for specific pricing for each night. Visitors should also be aware of several coupons and discounts available Sunday-Thursdays. For larger groups, vans are $85 and buses are $150.