The City of Laguna Niguel’s official holiday lights decorating contest with a citywide public map of winners — a free drive-around route through Marina Hills, Niguel Hills, and the master-planned communities each December.
The City of Laguna Niguel’s Holiday Lights Decorating Contest is the citywide official drive-around — homeowners across Laguna Niguel enter their residential holiday displays, the city’s committee judges and selects winners in six categories, and the city publishes a public map of category winners to a downloadable PDF on cityoflagunaniguel.org each December.
The six categories capture the variety of how Laguna Niguel residents decorate: Most Traditional, Best Animation, Most Creative, Ever-green Best Display of LED Lights / Recycled Materials, Best Display of Lights, and Best Display of Lights and Music. A separate sign goes to the street that displays the most community spirit — so beyond the individual winners, one full block is recognized as a year’s standout drive.
For families, the contest map functions as a citywide self-guided tour. Drive at residential pace through Marina Hills, Niguel Hills, Beacon Hill, Bear Brand, and the other hillside neighborhoods; the winning homes are spread across the city so a single evening route covers multiple categories. The lights typically run from early December through early January, and individual homeowners set their own evening hours.
The contest pairs naturally with the Holiday Parade & Festival of Lights at Crown Valley Community Park — Laguna Niguel’s anchor evening earlier in December. Crown Valley is the civic gathering; the contest is the drive-around homework for the rest of the month.
The City of Laguna Niguel posts the winners map as a downloadable PDF on cityoflagunaniguel.org — typically on the Holiday Lights Decorating Contest event page or under the city’s Calendar / News. The contest is run by the city’s Community Services Department from City Hall at 30111 Crown Valley Parkway.
The City of Laguna Niguel publishes the winners map in mid-December each year on cityoflagunaniguel.org. Individual lit displays typically run from early December through early January, with most homes lit roughly 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM nightly.
Yes — entirely free. The winners map is a free download from the City of Laguna Niguel site, the residential streets are public, and the drive itself has no fee, gate, or ticket.
The Holiday Parade & Festival of Lights at Crown Valley Community Park is the city’s anchor evening earlier in December — the civic gathering with the parade and the festival format. The Lights Decorating Contest map is the drive-around for the rest of the month. Many Laguna Niguel families catch the parade one night and drive the winners map across multiple evenings later in December.
Winners come from across the city, so the map spreads through Marina Hills, Niguel Hills, Beacon Hill, Bear Brand, and the other master-planned neighborhoods built across Laguna Niguel’s hillside ridge. A single evening drive from Crown Valley Parkway through the named neighborhoods can cover most categories.
Laguna Niguel is a master-planned hillside South Orange County city of about 65,000 residents, set across the rolling ridge between Aliso Viejo and Dana Point. The city is built around named neighborhoods — Marina Hills, Niguel Hills, Bear Brand, Beacon Hill — many with their own HOA-organized holiday programming alongside the citywide events run from City Hall at 30111 Crown Valley Parkway. The contest is run by the City of Laguna Niguel under the Community Services Department.
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