CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – To walk around the over half-a-mile trail at the Boar’s Head Resort’s annual Winter Wander holiday lights display, it takes about 30 minutes.

Spend time enjoying the displays and it might take 45. Stop to take in the show or buy and sip some hot chocolate and you’ll be at an hour.

That’s still nothing compared to the year-long process of putting the annual spectacle together.

“It’s an incredible overall operation that really takes all 12 months of planning and execution,” Director of Special Events Kevin Thurman told Cville Right Now.

Each year, about 50,000 visitors enjoy the event, strolling around the carefully crafted trail which is illuminated by over 700,000 light bulbs. Thurman said the event has strived to become “more immersive and interactive” each year.

The process of putting that all together begins in January with a review of the previous year’s event – what worked, what didn’t and what could be improved or moved?

Thurman and others also visit similar holiday displays for ideas. This year, he took in the lights at Lewis Ginter in Richmond. Last year, he toured Callaway Gardens and Resort’s Fantasy in Lights in Atlanta.

Boar’s Head partners with IWG to produce Winter Wander and their teams go to an annual convention in St. Louis, looking for ideas and solutions.

By late April, the budget and concepts are finalized. Boar’s Head invested about $500,000 in the trail, including a new display, this year. In May and June, the marketing plan and ticketing website are produced.

Tickets go on sale the Monday after the Fourth of July.

By late September, a six-person IWG team, supplemented as needed by groups of 8-10 additional workers, begin the physical installation of the light displays. Working six days a week for seven weeks, the work is completed by mid-November.

“They have to bring a crane in to lift the ‘Papa Boar’ into place. And he’s in three pieces,” Thurman said. “‘Starry Night Sky’ and the ‘Welcome Tree’ take a lift to get all the pieces up there. They’ve got a tree climbing crew that comes in to do ‘Lattice Lane’ and the tree with the firefly lights. So, it’s a massive operation.”

Boar’s Head maintenance staff runs all the speaker wire and sets up the speakers for the music that plays along the trail. The music is provided and selected by Z95.1.

Each night,10-20 Boar’s Head staffers work the event, depending on the expected turnout, plus additional outside security, parking and crowd management.

Last year, Boar’s Head launched a drone show. This year, the Airloom Drones production doubled in size from 100 drones to 200.

Last week, a couple got engaged during the drone show. Thurman said almost 30 couples have gotten engaged at Winter Wander since it started five years ago, though this was the first drone show proposal.

This year, Boar’s Head also added ‘Glistening Grove,’ a loop around a frozen pond with about 200,000 lights, organized in long tubes built by IWG in their Tampa workshop.

A stage show in the ‘Enchantment District’ includes a pair of ballets choreographed by Scarlet Entertainment especially for this year’s event entitled, ‘Candy Cane Lane,’ and ‘Nutcracker in Lights.’

The casting for the show began back in June, Thurman said. The cast came together in Washington D.C. for a week of rehearsals, then did a half-week of rehearsals in Charlottesville before debuting the shows.

“Seven dancers learned the entire choreography for two different shows in 10 days,” Thurman said.

Adjustments have been made along the way to the event. Boar’s Head added a second ‘Light Tunnel’ when it found attendees taking photographs would cause long lines to walk through. Now, one tunnel is for photos and one is for walking through.

Two years ago, the trail included an ice-skating rink, but weather caused issues and the artificial ice meant “the skating experience didn’t quite match our expectations,” Thurman said.

It’s all part of the year-round work to enhance and improve one of the area’s most popular holiday traditions.

Winter Wander runs until Jan. 3. Photos with Santa continue until Christmas Eve and the New Year’s Eve event also includes fireworks.

Then, Thurman and his team will start the process all over again in anticipation of 2026.

“I love it,” Thurman said. “They’re long days. It’s long, it’s brutal. But to get to see the joy of a kid’s smile when they get to see Santa Claus or when people are walking through ‘Glistening Grove’ when the lights are changing. Just that, ‘Woah, Mom. Look at that.’ When I’m walking the trail and hear that, saying that, it’s still giving me chills.”