The holidays are back and so are several in-person family-friendly events where people and their kids can see festive lights, meet Santa, walk through impressive immersive installations and even hop on a train to the North Pole.

These events are taking place all over the area at botanical gardens, missions, even farms and movie studios. Tickets to all events should be purchased online in advance. Some of the events go dark on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Here are 15 holiday events to take the family this year.

Astra Lumina Los Angeles

For the past two years the South Coast Botanic Garden took people through the ocean, rivers and forests with GLOW (Garden Lights & Ocean Waters). This year things are changing and the Garden is taking people to the stars instead with Astra Lumina. The illuminated night walk experience takes place from 6-10 p.m. Dec. 8-Jan. 15 and will use scenography, soundscape and projections to recreate a celestial world of stars and cosmic views. Some of the areas will let people experience falling stars, see lanterns and rising stars and listen to a cosmic choir. South Coast Botanic Garden, 26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Peninsula. Tickets are $20 for children ages 4-12, $24 for seniors, students or military and $29 for general admission. All tickets can be purchased at southcoastbotanicgarden.org.

Capistrano Lights

The Mission turns the lights on at night for a holiday celebration that includes light decorations, nightly tree lighting, music by the Dickens-era Carolers, pics with Santa and crafts for the kids. The festivities start at 4 p.m. on select nights Dec. 3-30. Mission San Juan Capistrano, 26801 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano. Tickets are $9-$20. All tickets are available at missionsjc.com.

Christmas Train

Choo choo! Hop on the train and take a ride through the historic Irvine Regional Park to see Santa. Irvine Park Railroad’s annual Christmas Train is back Nov. 25-Dec. 23. The train will take passengers through lighted tunnels along a path decorated in holiday lights to the North Pole to meet Santa. After pics with Santa the train will take passengers back to Santa’s Village where kids can jump on bounce houses, decorate cookies and play carnival games. The train chugs along 4- 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekends. Irvine Park Railroad, 1 Irvine Park Road, Orange. Trail tickets are $20-$35. All tickets are available at irvineparkrailroad.com.

Enchanted Forest of Light

Parts of Descanso Gardens will become even more enchanting with this holiday display of lights. The night time experience is a one-mile walk through illuminated parts of the park. Some of the popular displays returning this year during the Nov. 20-Jan. 8 run includes stained glass greetings in the Rose Garden by sculptor Tom Fruin, plus geometric installations in the Main Lawn and special lighting effects in the Ancient Forest. Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. Hours are 5:30-10 p.m. daily but closed Nov. 24, Dec.24-25. Tickets are $22-28 for members and $34-$40 for general admission. Tickets can be purchased at  descansogardens.org.

Festival of Lights

The Mission Inn delivers one of the most elaborate holiday displays around as buildings, palm trees, giant nutcrackers and pretty much everything in and around the Inn are wrapped in lights. The free self-guided walk-thru takes place from Nov. 25-Jan. 6 with lights coming on at 7 each night. Free admission; For more information or reservations, go to missioninn.com.

Hikari a Festival of Lights

When the sun goes down the light switch is flipped on at Tanaka Farms for its annual wagon ride through the festively lit farm during the Hikari festival, which runs Nov. 25-Dec.30. The wagon ride will take people to the Land of Lanterns, where they can hop off and wander through light displays before heading to the Festival Grounds where people can meet barnyard animals, grab some food, play games and meet Santa for a photo. Hikari festival is open from 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m.. Tanaka Farms, 5380 3/4 University Drive, Irvine. Tickets are $20-$30. Tickets can be purchased at tanakafarms.com/hikari.

Holidays Made Here

If Warner Bros. Studios can make movies then they can also make holiday memories, especially for “Gilmore Girls” fans with its Holidays Made Here walking tour. The tour is a special feature included as part of all the Studio Tours and will take guests to the Midwest Street Backlot, which appears as Stars Hollow in the “Gilmore Girls” series. The set will be a selfie lover’s dream since it will be decorated for the holidays and Gilmore Girls holiday merchandise created for the holiday event will be available for purchase at the pop-up shops in Stars Hollow. People will also hear holidays-themed trivia and other behind-the-scenes stories about holiday movies filmed at the studio including “Gremlins,” “Elf,” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Tours depart from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day except for Dec. 25 when tours will be closed. Warner Bros Studio Tour, 3400 Warner Blvd., Burbank. Tours range from $69-$299. Tickets are available at wbstudiotour.com.

Holiday Road

Take a holiday stroll through this immersive one-mile walking trail that will take visitors through the North Pole, an elf village, a Christmas tree forest and Gingerbread Lane, which is lined with colorful and scented gingerbread houses. The Holiday Road event takes place 5-10 p.m. at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas on select evenings Nov. 25-Dec. 30. Besides taking tons of selfies people can also leave with last-minute stocking stuffers purchased at the  gift shop. And enjoy an adult beverage at the Holiday Bar or grab some grub at one of the various food trucks that will be on site each night. King Gillette Ranch, 26800 W. Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas. Tickets to various time slots are $29.99-$44.99 at holidayroadusa.com.

Illuminate Silverlakes

This is a brand new holiday light show at the 130-acre SilverLakes Equestrian and Sports Park in Norco on select nights Nov. 25-Dec. 30. Visitors can walk through an illuminated tunnel to reach destinations like a forest of electric Christmas trees which come to life with a show that includes music, lights and even a surprise snowfall. There’s also the Toyland area, which is guarded by giant Nutcrackers and includes a display of oversize presents. Open 6-10 p.m. SilverLakes Sports Complex, 5555 Hamner Ave., Norco. Tickets are $48 for adults and $34 for children and are on sale at illuminate.holiday.

L.A. Zoo Lights

The Zoo lights up at night again for this yearly tradition that includes lantern sculptures of animals, light tunnels, twinkling forests and other light displays throughout the venue. Grab a cup of hot cocoa and buy some of the glowing merchandise available to add to the experience, which takes place 6-10 p.m. Nov. 18-Jan. 22.  L.A. Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles. $34-$39 adults; $27-$32 children ages 2-12.  All tickets are available at lazoo.org.

Lightscape LA Arboretum

Walk through an impressive display of lights and music at Lightscape, an after-dark light installation that will take over some of the park’s trails. The holiday display runs through Jan. 8 and is made up of several light installations that are coupled with music and special effects that transform part of the property into an illuminated garden. One of the installations is the Winter Cathedral, which is a light tunnel shaped like arched windows made up of more than 100,000 small LED globes. There’s also one dubbed the Fire Garden,  which uses fire as the main component of the display. The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden is at 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. The event opens at 5:30 p.m. and closes at 10 p.m.  Nov. 11-Jan. 8. Tickets start at $37 for adults and $18 for children ages 3-12 and can be purchased at arboretum.org.

Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade

The 114th annual boat parade will show off about 100 or so decorated yachts, canoes, sail boats and other water vessels cruising along the harbor in a nightly display of floating holiday spirit starting at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 14-18. The parade launches from Lido Isle and ends at 9 p.m. One of the most popular public viewing areas is the 10.5-acre Marina Park. 1600 W. Balboa Blvd., Newport Beach. Information at christmasboatparade.com.

Santa’s Village at Skypark

It’s the most wonderful time of the year at Skypark when the adventure park turns up the holiday spirit Nov. 17-Jan. 8 with its Santa’s Village attraction. The celebrations will include breakfast with Santa, tea with Mrs. Claus plus ice skating, plus holiday characters parade and dance their way up Candy Cane Lane to the Village with a  light show set to holiday music. Village hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.- 7 p.n. Weekends. Santa’s Village at Skypark, 28950 California 18, Skyforest. Tickets are $69 for adults and $59 for children and can be purchased at skyparksantasvillage.com.

Winterfest at the OC Fair & Events Center

It was converted to a drive-thru experience in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, but now the Winter Fest OC is back as an in-person event. On select dates Nov. 25-Jan. 1 the fairgrounds are transformed into a winter world with more than a million twinkling lights, oversize holiday decorations and immersive areas like the North Pole, an ice rink, a 150-foot ice tubing slide. There’s also a snowboard simulator, carnival games and of course, Santa will be there to take pics. OC Fair & Events Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. $30 for adults and $25 for children at the gate,  $19.95 for adults and $14.95 for children online at winterfestoc.com.

Winterlit in Santa Monica

Santa Monica will be celebrating the holidays all throughout the Promenade and nearby areas during its Winterlit holiday celebration. For those who want to slide around on ice, the 8,000-square-foot rink on the corner of Fifth Street and Arizona Avenue reopened after a two-year hiatus on Nov. 10. The rink will remain open from noon-10 p.m. daily through Jan. 16. Skate rental and admission cost $20. Thousands of colorful lights, decor and garland will deck the Third Street Promenade and Santa comes to the Promenade on Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. for the annual lighting of the official City of Santa Monica 24-foot-tall holiday tree. Third Street Promenade, 1351 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, downtownsm.com/iceAtSantaMonica.