This year’s Light Show runs beginning the day after Thanksgiving at the following times: • DAILY | 10:30 am, 12 pm, 2 pm, 4 pm & 6 pm
The 28,750-pipe Wanamaker Organ—the world’s largest playing pipe organ—is featured with the noon and 6 pm showings (except Sundays).
Dickens Christmas Village, detailing the timeless redemption-through-self-giving story of stone-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge, is open this year (2024) by advance reservation from 11/29 (Black Friday) to 12/31. Official information and a reservation form is here is HERE. Starting 11/19 you can make a reservation at least five days in advance. Please note that Santa’s last day is 12/24 as he has a big night ahead of him, followed by some R&R. The Dickens Village attraction may be enjoyed virtually clicking the icon above! If you visit during a slow time, it is always worth asking at the door if you can be admitted to this attraction.Beautiful windows and holiday music grace the bustling Market Street street scene outside the Store. These attractions have historically been put together under the supervision of Manuel Urquizo, Macy’s Director of Campaigns and Windows, and built by Square One Design. They were styled and lit by Macy’s Center City Visual Merchandising, and are definitely worth a detour! The 2024 windows are on display from Wed. November 11 through New Year’s Day 2025!
Macy’s is located inside The Wanamaker Building at 13th & Market Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Basic store Information is at 215-241-9000. There is parking underneath the Store, with lot street entrances on Juniper and on 13th Streets.
PLANNING A LIGHT SHOW TRIP? BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN FOR HELPFUL INFORMATION!
The Light Show itself lasts about eleven minutes. Buying Wanamaker Organ items from the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ webstore helps support the Organ as you fulfill your holiday gift list. Just click on the link below! Immediate Direct Shipping!
At the Dickens Christmas Village (Third Floor, Market Street) there is also a concession for photos with Santa (open through Christmas Eve) and a Christmas gift shop (“Holiday Lane”) nearby. Macy’s now hosts a Toys “R” Us section on the Third Floor (13th Street Side) as well. Public bathrooms are located there. If there is not a bathroom attendant, the punch code to get in the bathrooms may be obtained at the Executive Offices, just off the Elevators on Floor 3 at Market. There is covered public parking under the Wanamaker Building, with a stairway and elevators leading to Street Level, with two entrances along the Juniper Street side of the lot. Enter the garage from Juniper Street (off City Hall Square) or from 13th Street headed north.
THE WANAMAKER ORGAN is used for the finale of any noon Light Shows (except Sundays), and at the end of any 6 pm Light Shows. Recorded Wanamaker Organ finales conclude the show at all other times.
The Wanamaker Organ is played daily (except Sundays) at noon and 5:30 pm. Note: this is the regular year-round schedule. 
Watch a YouTube video on the Eighth Floor John Wanamaker Toy Department Monorail and other Department Stores with Monorails HERE! 
Christmas Eve day and New Year’s Eve day the second of the Wanamaker Organ daily concerts are generally cancelled due to potential curtailed store hours and to accommodate the personal needs of the Organ and Store staff. Again, the Organ is not played on Sundays.
Light Show Evolution—with Christmas Display Review
The Store’s fabulous light show has always been one of Philadelphia’s most hallowed traditions since its inception in November 1955, as fountains lit by colored lights. This feature spotlights early Grand Court displays, and it is followed is followed by Larry Kerecman’s information-packed chronology of how the John Wanamaker Light Show evolved year by year. […]
The Holiday Light Show
Fun Facts and Figures Past and Present There are 34,500 LED lights on the Macy’s Magic Christmas Tree in six colors: red, yellow, green, blue, purple, and cool white, which breaks down to about 5,750 lights in each color. It is topped by a red Moravian (or Advent) star. The lights on the tree, the […]
More Store and Light Show Handy Tips
MEALS, LODGING, NEARBY ATTRACTIONS, TIPS AND OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION IS HERE. Covered parking is available under the Wanamaker Building, but additional options are here. Read the fascinating story of Bert Medland, father of the Magic Christmas Tree here. An annotated bibliography by Adrianna Riccioni tracing the history of the Light Show is here. Our Philadelphia Visitors Guide is here. Escalators are located […]
Macy’s “Millennium” Makeover
Retailers have always kept the Light Show up-to-date, and the latest version, produced by Macy’s, is no exception. While retaining all the beloved elements of the John Wanamaker original, the revamped production — dubbed the Millennium Edition by designer Larry Kerecman — modernizes the equipment while allowing the Grand Organ to cast its holiday spell. […]
More on the Makeover
As far as the Wanamaker Organ was concerned, the main problem with past Christmas shows was that the instrument was covered by a huge theater curtain, muffling the Organ’s sound and robbing the hall of reverberation. Until the Grand Court was repainted for the American Bicentennial in 1976, this sound-deadening continued throughout the year as […]
Macy’s Dickens Christmas Village
Macy’s acquired the celebrated Dickens Christmas Village from Philadelphia’s Strawbridge & Clothier Department Store. Numerous animated figures depict scenes in Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (1843). While not as popular as the Wanamaker Light Show, the village drew customers to the fourth floor Strawbridge’s, and on one occasion a Dickens descendant presided at the season opening. […]
Macy’s Animated Windows
Macy’s has also enlivened Market Street with a series of fanciful windows spreading holiday cheer to the sidewalks. Festive holiday music from sidewalk speakers adds to the enchantment of this grand old department store tradition.
Light Show Storage
During the off-season the show is stored in the passageways around the Organ, making the area look like Santa’s workshop. The Magic Christmas Tree is kept on the second floor, Chestnut Street, behind the ladies suit department. The branches are hung from trusses in the ceiling and the endpoints are color-coded for easy installation on […]
Wanamaker’s Toy Department
Wanamaker’s maintained a large Toy Department at the south end of the Eighth floor. It included a real monorail for kids that made a circuit around the department from 1946 to 1984, and a sprawling electric-train layout. The rocket monorail cars have been moved to the Please Touch Museum.
Historic Grand Court Displays
John Wanamaker was a leading Christian layman and founder of Bethany Presbyterian Church, and his family built on that faith. During the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s the Grand Court included a Christmas Cathedral at the rear (also with a thick blue-green drapery behind it) that had a Nativity scene as its focus and saints and […]