Carowinds Christmas lights event reduces nighttime hours, extends daytime ops as Six Flags changes continue
Parent company Six Flags will change the operating hours of WinterFest 2025 at Carowinds in Charlotte, N.C., making for a longer Christmas holiday event overall but fewer nighttime hours.
WinterFest is partially known for its park-wide Christmas lights. Depending on the date, the sun sets in Charlotte anywhere between 5:12 & 5:24 p.m. during WinterFest’s run.
WinterFest will be open from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. each event day this year at Carowinds. The event runs select dates from Nov. 28, 2025 – Jan. 3, 2026. The one exception is on New Year’s Eve, when the park will be open until 1 a.m. (During previous years, the event operated from 5-10 p.m. most nights.)
Carowinds announced the change on Aug. 18, saying:
This year, we’ve changed our WinterFest hours to 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., giving families more time to take in the holiday season and more access to their favorite attractions, like Thunder Striker and the new family launch coaster, Snoopy’s Racing Railway.
Carowinds on social media
For the time being, it seems like the changes are isolated to Carowinds and do not extend to other parks in the Six Flags portfolio.
Longer nighttime operating hours remain as usual at holiday events at the following Six Flags parks, according to the park hours calendar on their respective websites:
- WinterFest at Canada’s Wonderland
- WinterFest at Kings Island
- Knott’s Merry Farm at Knott’s Berry Farm
- WinterFest at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
- Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Fiesta Texas
- Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Magic Mountain
- Christmas in the Park at Six Flags México
- Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags previously announced the 2025 cancellation of WinterFest at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va., as well as the cancellation of Holiday in the Park for both Six Flags Great Adventure near Jackson Township, N.J., and Six Flags Over Georgia near Atlanta, Ga.
Charlotte, Carowinds’ home city, is the global headquarters of Six Flags.
Cedar Fair, Carowinds’ former parent company, merged with Six Flags in 2024. In the year since the merge, Six Flags has removed park presidents from all locations, reduced its full-time staff by more than 10%, and announced the permanent closure of its park near Washington, D.C., Six Flags America. The company has also continued announcing and opening new attractions, most recently Speedway Stunt Coaster, opening at Six Flags México in 2026, and a suite of escape rooms themed to “The Conjuring” debuting a four former Cedar Fair parks this Halloween season.
Check out our video highlights from Carowinds WinterFest 2023:
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