Add Tanaka Farm’s “Hikari – Festival of Lights” to Your List of Things to Do in Orange County This Holiday Season

Throughout the year, Irvine, California’s Tanaka Farms offers up some family-friendly things to do in Orange County. Everything from strawberry picking in the summer to pumpkin picking in the fall, Tanaka Farms utilizes their 30-acre farm and turns it into a fun, hands-on outing for both kids and adults.

For the 2020 holiday season comes a brand new festive event on the farm! Only a few miles away from where you can purchase used cars near Tustin Toyota, you will be fully immersed in a plethora of twinkling lights. Beginning Monday November 27, 2020, Tanaka Farms takes the meaning of hikari literally. Hikari, in Japanese, means shine. 

The Coronavirus pandemic has required many event organizers to reconfigure their offerings to abide by strict social distancing guidelines. For their pumpkin farm this past October, Tanaka Farms introduced a drive-thru experience that ended up being an overwhelming success. Given that we are still living in a time with the same guidelines, hikari will be yet another drive-thru experience to enjoy.

You and your family will tour the 30-acre farm from the comfort of your vehicle. While on this route, you will be surrounded by over a mile of shimmering Christmas lights that are hand-picked, carefully placed, and matched to color. Don’t be afraid to play your favorite holiday jams on your car radio, in fact, we recommend it! Not sure what songs to play? Don’t worry, by this time KOST 103.5FM will already be fleshed-out in numerous holiday playlists to keep you in the holiday spirit. 

As you drive through the route, you will see displays of farm-themed lighting draped on trees, scarecrows, and tractors. Tanaka Farms has a field of sugar canes that you will be able to pass through, and even those will be twinkling in lights too! Everything on the farm is getting the holiday treatment this year, and it’s going to be a spectacle that has to be seen to be believed.

For a little more festive fun, your little tykes can get a special visit from Santa Clause every Friday – Sunday as well.

If you get to Tanaka Farms a little earlier in the day, you can visit their Drive-Thru produce stand that is open daily between 9 AM – 6 PM. At the stand, you will find produce grown straight from the farm fields, jams made with berries from the farm, peanuts, salsa with chips, and even fruit and vegetable incorporated loaves of bread! And yes, you will be able to shop the whole catalog without leaving your vehicle.

Hikari will run every night from Monday, November 27, 2020 – Sunday, January 10, 2021, excluding Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Eve between the hours of 5:30 pm to 9 pm. Reservations to the farm must be made online and in advance, so if you’re interested be sure to buy your reservation time early! The event is priced per vehicle with a maximum of 8 people per car. Regardless, the number of passengers in the vehicle should not exceed the number of seat belts. There is also a height clearance of 9 ½ feet for taller vehicles.

Mondays – Fridays tickets are $49 and Saturday – Sunday tickets are $59. The first car enters at 5:30 pm and the last car enters at 9 pm. 

Reserve your time slot soon, and add Tanaka Farm’s Hikari to your list of things to do in Orange County this holiday season!