By Jenny Callison
Enquirer contributor

Josh Cooper of Hamilton adjusts a lighted snowflake Thursday in the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park outside Hamilton. The park turns on its holiday lights show today. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

Greater Cincinnati's twinkle factor jumps considerably this weekend, when two suburban light shows are open to the public. A third opens after Thanksgiving.

The staff at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton has spent six weeks stringing lights and installing animated displays for Holiday Lights on the Hill. This year's new feature is the Gardens of Light.

"We took some of our garden areas and painstakingly decorated the groundcover, bushes and grasses with lights to create these glowing gardens," said park Assistant Director Shaun Higgins. "We added so many new lights this year that we blew a transformer and had to get a larger one."

Holiday Lights is Pyramid Hill's biggest public fund-raiser. Proceeds help support the park's Summer Series for Kids and summer concert series.

The park flips the Holiday Lights switch Friday; the display continues daily through Jan. 5. Hours are 6-10 p.m. Admission is $12 per vehicle Monday through Thursday, $14 per vehicle Friday and Saturday. Charges increase for more than nine passengers, and special bus rates are available. Discount coupons are available online.

Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park is at 1763 Hamilton-Cleves Road. Information: 868-8336 or www.pyramidhill.org

Light lovers have had a week to enjoy Holiday In Lights, now in its 11th season at Sharon Woods in Sharonville. The park's display boasts 250,000 lights and 120 displays, including the 10-foot toy soldiers, holiday castle and 250-foot Tunnel of Lights.

Four theme nights are planned to encourage visitors to get in the holiday mood. Participants receive a $2 per car discount. On "Sportswear Night" Nov. 27, visitors may wear shirts or headgear boosting their favorite teams; "Fido and Fluffy Pet Night" Dec. 4 promotes bringing the family pet along; folks are urged to arrive with the top down on "Convertible Night" Dec. 11; and to dress in their most festive holiday attire on Dec. 18.

Holiday in Lights remains open daily through Jan. 5. Show hours and admission prices are 6-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday ($8 per car) and 6-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday ($10 per car). Cost for passenger vans is $45.

Light Up Middletown in Smith Park will have a new look when the bulbs blink on next week. Returning displays are being rearranged, organizers say, and there are two new 10-foot candles at the park's entrance.

The community's "Grandpa Gang," a group of volunteers aged 60-82, have worked the past two weeks to install more than 52,000 light bulbs that make up the holiday light show.

Light Up Middletown is open daily from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Nov. 29 through Dec. 31. Admission is by donation for paying off debts for electrical lines, purchasing new displays and funding park improvements.

Information: 425-7840