Sacramento, CA

Where to See the Fab 40s Christmas Lights in Sacramento

The Fabulous Forties, the numbered streets running roughly from 38th to 48th between M Street and Folsom Boulevard in East Sacramento, is the display most locals picture when they think of Christmas lights here. The draw is the architecture: large historic homes with deep lawns, mature trees and long roof lines, decorated street after street. It gets busy, so plan the visit rather than winging it.

Christmas lights on a home in Sacramento, California at night — One of our own installs in the Sacramento area — not a photo of the display itself.

Displays are put on by private residents and volunteers, so streets, hours and start dates change from year to year. Most Sacramento-area neighbourhood displays switch on around the first week of December and run nightly through New Year's — check locally before you drive out.

Where to go

The displays

The Fabulous Forties streets

Walk or drive

Where: 38th–48th Streets between M Street and Folsom Blvd, Sacramento 95816
Best time: Weeknights after dark, roughly 6–9pm

Walking is genuinely better here — the lawn detail and animated displays are lost at driving speed, and traffic crawls on peak nights.

43rd Street stretch

Walk or drive

Where: 43rd Street, near the heart of the neighbourhood
Best time: Weeknights after dark

Often the densest concentration of decorated homes, and a sensible place to start a loop on foot.

Local tips

Make the trip easy.

Go Sunday through Thursday. Friday and Saturday nights in the week before Christmas are the busiest of the year.
Park a few blocks out on a through street and walk in — it's faster than queueing, and these are residential streets.
Keep driveways clear, keep noise down and stay off lawns. Residents fund and build these displays themselves.
Dress warmer than you think: December evenings in Sacramento regularly drop into the 30s and 40s.

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Sacramento FAQs

Questions visitors ask.

Where exactly are the Fab 40s Christmas lights?+

In East Sacramento, on the numbered streets between roughly 38th and 48th, bounded by M Street and Folsom Boulevard. The 95816 ZIP covers most of it.

Is it free?+

Yes. Every neighbourhood display in this guide is a private residential display you can view from the public street at no charge.

Should we walk or drive?+

Walk if you can. The displays are detailed and set well back from the street, and foot traffic avoids the bottlenecks that build up on peak nights.

Your home

We install across Sacramento too.

Design, install, mid-season maintenance, takedown and storage — all included, from $799. See residential Christmas light installation in Sacramento, or permanent smart lighting if you'd rather never climb a ladder again.

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