Making spirits bright

Radiance 'holiday light spectacular' brings more electrifying events to North Texas for 2021

It's beginning to look like a hot, steamy second half of July — a perfect time to talk fall and winter holidays. The folks behind last year's smash-hitRadiance! Holiday Light Spectacular are back for 2021 and flipping the switch on dazzling new events for both Halloween and Christmas.

“Radiance! was immensely successful last year thanks to our wonderful guests, and we were just getting started," says Jill Lank, CEO of Peerless Production Group, in a release. "We are thrilled to be back with an even bigger and better experience for everyone to come out and enjoy all the holidays have to offer."

Radiance! A Holiday Light Spectacular will return to both Weatherford and Decatur for 2021, with an enhanced mile-long drive-thru holiday experience. They're adding more scenes, a million more dazzling animated lights, and VIP experiences that include exclusive light tunnel photo opportunities and faster access.

Radiance! At the Ranch in Weatherford (Parker County Sheriff's Posse, 2251 Mineral Wells Hwy.) will run November 18-December 31, while Radiance! Decatur (Reunion Grounds Joe Wheeler Park, 2901 FM 51 #100) will run November 18-December 26.

A new location — aptly named Radiance! at the Races — will launch this November at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis (7500 US-287) and give guests the chance to drive along "a dragster track arched with animated tunnels, racing-themed holiday scenes, and dancing lights galore." It will run November 18-January 1.

Across town in Frisco, the fun gets started as early as Halloween.

First there'll be a brand-new, family-friendly Halloween event, Frights’n Lights Frisco, "where ghouls glow, spirits shine, and things go 'bump' in the light!" says the release. "Bridging the gap between basic pumpkin patches and the gore of traditional haunted houses, Frights’n Lights is an Instagram wonderland chock full of ‘phantasmic’ photo opportunities and features the largest and safest trick-or-treat trail in Texas."

They promise a land filled with thousands of shining, intricately carved jack-o-lanterns and a thrilling cast of spine-chilling Hollywood stars brought to life by a ghoulish gallery of giant-sized lanterns and lights. There'll also be haunted games, the Headless Horseman’s Haunted Hay Maze, rides, Halloween-themed concessions, and a retro drive-in movie on a 40-foot screen, they say.

The event will take place at Riders Field (formerly Dr Pepper Ballpark) in Frisco, on select dates from September 30-November 6. Tickets will go on sale in September; prices have not been disclosed.

Then will come Radiance! featuring Frozen in Frisco, "a magnificent winter carnival sure to fill every member of your family with the spirit of the season," they promise.

Running November 18-January 6 at Frisco's Riders Field, it's a two-part experience covered by one ticket. Radiance!, held as a drive-thru event last year, becomes a theme park-style ride in a vehicle that guides guests through the show. "This means less wait time and more fun for you and your family this holiday season," the organizers say, addressing one of the biggest (and only?) complaints about the 2020 edition.

Visitors can expect an all-new, mile-long light trail of over 3 million RGB lights, animated to favorite holiday tunes, leading into the inaugural Frozen in Frisco winter-themed festival.

The event will feature a two-story outdoor ice tubing hill, ice skating under the stars, bumper cars on ice, snowball toss with real snow, a 108-foot Ferris wheel, Christmas carousel, buckin’ reindeer rides, a Christmas Story escape room, s’mores fire pits, a holiday market, and more.

Tickets to all Radiance! events will go on sale soon; prices have not been disclosed. For more details, visit FrightsnLights.com and RadianceChristmas.com.

This year, the tour of lights will be even more over-the-top.

Photo courtesy of Radiance

This year, the tour of lights will be even more over-the-top.

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share the road

Texas is one of the most unfriendly states for riding a bicycle

Photo by Coen van de Broek on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in Fort Worth, you already know how true this is.

Fort Worth has a vibrant bicycling community, but the state of Texas is not so bicycle-friendly. A new report called the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S." puts Texas at nearly at the bottom of the list.

Texas comes in at No. 47, with only three other states that are worse: Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, which is the least cycle-friendly state of all.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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