Last season, Bright Nights ran four nights a week, Thursday through Sunday. In 2026 it adds Wednesday as a regular night and makes it the dog night. Tickets are also undated this year, so you no longer have to choose your night when you buy.
Bright Nights runs November 20 through December 27, 2026, at WellSpan Park, 5 Brooks Robinson Way, with 27 nights and more than 3 million lights. Glo Fiber is this year's presenting sponsor. The show is a walk-through, and the Bright Nights FAQ puts the full route at about a half mile.
Wednesday Is the Night That Didn't Exist Last Year
Bright Nights started at WellSpan Park in 2024. The York Daily Record covered it that September as a new holiday event at the ballpark, planned for six nights a week from Nov. 15 through Dec. 30. In the York Revolution's 2025 release, the second season ran Thursday through Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m., with dogs welcome on Thursdays. According to the team's 2026 announcement, the show now runs Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m.
| 2025 season | 2026 season | |
|---|---|---|
| Regular nights | Thursday to Sunday | Wednesday to Sunday |
| Weekly dog night | Thursday | Wednesday |
| Dogs with Santa | Sunday, Dec. 21 | Sunday, Dec. 20 |
| Presenting sponsor | Traditions Bank, a division of ACNB Bank | Glo Fiber |
| Closed | Thanksgiving and Christmas Day | Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day |
| Extra nights | None listed | Monday, Dec. 21 and Tuesday, Dec. 22 |
The new Wednesday is also the reason 2026 still adds up to 27 nights even with an extra closure on Christmas Eve. Christmas week stays open almost every night. Monday, Dec. 21 and Tuesday, Dec. 22 are bonus nights, and after the two-night break the show returns for the final weekend of December 26 and 27.
Six Nights a Dog Can Walk the Half Mile
Bringing a dog takes the most planning, because the rule is strict. The FAQ says only properly identified service animals are allowed on regular nights. Pet dogs are welcome only on Bark in the Park nights, and owners sign a liability waiver for their dog at the gate.
The FAQ describes those nights as Wednesdays only, but the 2026 schedule adds one Sunday. Here is every dog-friendly night on the posted schedule and what else is happening that night:
- Wednesday, Nov. 25. Bark in the Park, plus the new Holiday Pop-Up Bar in the Capital Blue Cross 1741 Club.
- Wednesday, Dec. 2. Bark in the Park.
- Wednesday, Dec. 9. Bark in the Park, with Bluey & Bingo from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 16. Bark in the Park.
- Sunday, Dec. 20. Bark in the Park with Santa, alongside Santa Sundays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 23. Bark in the Park, with Bluey & Bingo from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The Revolution describes Dec. 20 as a special dog-friendly night with Santa, and it is the only weekend night of the season when dogs can come. Santa also visits every Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 20, so that Sunday puts both on the same night.
The 2026 ticket pages list adult and child admission with no separate dog ticket. They also don't cover vaccination paperwork, how many dogs one person can bring, or leash types. Call the Shipley Energy Ticket Office before you go if any of that matters for your dog.
Thanksgiving Eve Puts Three Things on One Wednesday
The first dog night of the season falls on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The Revolution also chose that night for one of this year's new events. On Nov. 25, the Capital Blue Cross 1741 Club hosts a Holiday Pop-Up Bar for guests 21 and older. There's no cover charge, the bar is cashless, and the club overlooks the light show. A Bright Nights ticket is a separate purchase from the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
So on that one Wednesday, the ballpark has a dog-friendly walk, a bar with no cover and the full light show, the night before Thanksgiving, when people tend to have out-of-town family visiting. The FAQ says re-entry is allowed on the night of your visit so you can use what's set up on the Brooks Robinson Plaza. Thanksgiving Day itself is closed, so the Wednesday is the last night before a one-night break.
The Weekends Got Busier, Too
The new Wednesday makes the midweek its own night, and the weekends now have new events of their own.
Vendor Night, Saturday, Nov. 28. This one-night shopping event for Small Business Saturday is presented with Lovelie Links Permanent Jewelry. It features local vendors, handmade gifts, treats from Lancaster Cupcake and Highland cows.
FestivICE, Dec. 11 to 13. The ice festival returns for one weekend. Glacial Ice Works will carve more than seven tons of ice into sculptures, including a 40-foot ice slide. The Revolution's announcement gives the dates as Dec. 11 to 13, while the posted schedule lists FestivICE on Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday, Dec. 13, so check the Friday before you plan around it. In the same announcement, York Revolution President and General Manager Ben Shipley noted that FestivICE's "last run was in Cherry Lane in 2023."
Holiday Hog Feast, Sunday, Dec. 13. Pappy's Q presents a roast pig with an exclusive sugar plum wing sauce and a cashless bar in the Capital Blue Cross 1741 Club from 5 to 7 p.m. That puts it in the middle of the FestivICE weekend.
Spruce'd Up is back too. Local companies decorate trees on behalf of local nonprofits, visitors vote for their favorites, and the winning nonprofits receive cash prizes.
The weekend characters change through the season. Reindeer visit on Friday, Nov. 20, Thursday, Dec. 3 and Friday, Dec. 18. Sugarplum and the Nutcracker come Nov. 27. Elsa, Anna and Olaf appear Dec. 4, then Elsa, Anna and Kristoff on Dec. 11. The Grinch and Cindy Lou Who visit Dec. 10 and Dec. 17, and Mrs. Claus covers the bonus nights of Dec. 21 and 22.
Undated Tickets Mean You Pick the Night Later
All of these events are spread across different nights, and the ticket change is what makes that manageable. According to the Revolution, 2026 tickets are "flexible and undated this year," so you can come on whichever night works. If the forecast looks bad for a Wednesday, a dog owner can shift to the next one without exchanging anything.
Prices are the same as in 2025. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 4 to 12, and free for kids 3 and under. They're sold online and in person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office at WellSpan Park. Last year's release added a $2 surcharge for tickets bought on the day of the event. The 2026 announcement doesn't mention that surcharge. It does introduce 4-packs and a new season pass, which Shipley described as a way to "come back again and again."
A season pass suits a 27-night show with something different on most nights. A family could do a Wednesday dog walk in early December, come back for the ice slide during FestivICE and finish on a bonus Monday with Mrs. Claus.
Two timing details from the FAQ apply every night. You can stay as long as you like on the night you visit, but the show "closes promptly at 9pm," and arriving by 8:30 p.m. is recommended.
I'm a York investor and agent, so I watch how places like WellSpan Park bring people downtown on winter weeknights. If you live in the neighborhoods around the ballpark and want to know how that midweek traffic affects your home's value, Spencer Blake can walk you through a free home valuation.
