The Festival of Lights at La Salette shrine in Attleboro.

The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

For scale and grandeur, few outdoor Christmas displays can compare with the Christmas Festival of Lights at the La Salette Shrine in Attleboro. For more than half a century, busloads of people from around New England have witnessed the spectacle of a few hundred thousand lights illuminating the trees that surround the shrine, where Roman Catholic pilgrims pray to Our Lady of La Salette, a vision of Mary they believe to have appeared to two children in the French Alps in 1846.

Some visitors simply see the lights and leave. Others light a candle at the shrine, attend a Mass or a concert of Christian music. This weekend, there are services on Friday at 12:10 and 5:30 p.m.; an opening ceremony and blessing everyday at the outdoor manger at 4:55 p.m.; and Christmas concerts in the church, Tuesdays through Sundays, at 3 and 7 p.m.

In addition, this weekend La Salette is conducting its Christmas Bazaar, noon to 9 on Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

The shrine is open daily, today through Jan. 4, 5 to 9 p.m.; and 5 p.m. is the most dramatic time to visit, as the lights are turned on. Admission and parking is free, though donations are welcome.

La Salette is located at 947 Park St. (Route 118), Attleboro, off Exit 3 (Route 123 East) of Route 95. For more information, visit www.lasalette-shrine.org, or call (508) 222-5410.

Edaville USA in Carver, Mass., has a Christmas Festival of Lights, which runs through Jan. 4, and is closed on Christmas. The children’s theme park offers rides on a narrow-gauge railway, which offers views of holiday light displays. The train rides last 35 minutes, but there are also amusement rides.

The Festival of Lights is Mondays through Fridays, 4 to 9 p.m., closed on Thanksgiving, and open Saturdays and Sundays, 2 to 9 p.m. Admission is $18. To get to Edaville, take Route 195 east to exit 22 (Route 495 north), to exit 2 (Route 58) and go four miles and turn left on Rochester Road and then one mile to Pine Street on the right. For more information, visit www.edaville.com or call (508) 866-8190.

— Bryan Rourke