PEARL, Miss. (September 2, 2026) — The final home game may be in the books, but the lights at Trustmark Park are only getting started.

The Southern Lights will return to Trustmark Park for the 2026 holiday season, bringing another winter filled with sparkling lights, ice skating, Christmas memories and plenty of reasons to bundle up and come back to the ballpark.

And this year, the lights are getting brighter and the ice is getting bigger.

The Mississippi Mud Monsters announced today that the 2026 edition of The Southern Lights will feature MORE LIGHTS throughout the holiday experience, along with an expanded ice skating rink that will be 900 square feet larger than last season.

Specific dates, hours, ticket information and additional details surrounding this year’s event will be announced in the coming weeks.

“Our guys still have baseball left to play on the road, but here at Trustmark Park we’re already starting to turn the page toward Christmas,” said David Kerr, Assistant General Manager of the Mississippi Mud Monsters. “There was something really special about watching this place transform last year. One day it’s a baseball stadium, and then suddenly there are lights everywhere, people are skating and families are making completely different memories in the same place.”

The Southern Lights transforms the home of the Mud Monsters into a holiday destination, filling Trustmark Park with Christmas lights, ice skating and seasonal experiences throughout the winter.

After its first season, the goal for 2026 is simple: make the experience even more magical.

“We learned a lot from our first year, and this year we’re going bigger,” Kerr said. “More lights. More room to skate. More of those little moments where you turn a corner and see something that makes Christmas feel like Christmas.”

One of the biggest changes guests will notice will be on the ice.

The Southern Lights ice skating rink will grow by 900 square feet for 2026, creating significantly more room for families and friends to skate together beneath the lights of Trustmark Park.

Beyond the rink, visitors can also expect more lights throughout the experience as The Southern Lights continues to grow into a Christmas tradition of its own.

“Ultimately, that’s what we want The Southern Lights to become,” Kerr said. “One of those things families put on the calendar every year. Something kids remember. Something you bring family and friends to when they’re home for Christmas. Something where you walk through the gates and, even if it’s only for a couple of hours, everything just feels a little more magical.”

With planning for the 2026 event already underway, sponsorship opportunities and group outings for The Southern Lights are available now.

For businesses throughout Central Mississippi and beyond, The Southern Lights offers a unique opportunity to place their brand inside one of the region’s largest holiday experiences, reaching families throughout the Christmas season in an environment built around celebration, tradition and time spent together.

Opportunities can range from event and attraction partnerships to branded experiences and other creative ways for companies to become part of The Southern Lights.

“We want businesses to look at this as more than putting their name on a sign,” Kerr said. “There are opportunities to become part of the experience itself. Christmas gives us so many creative possibilities, and we want to work with partners to find things that are memorable, meaningful and genuinely add something to the event.”

Group opportunities are also available now for companies, churches, schools, organizations, families and other groups looking to make The Southern Lights part of their holiday celebrations.

The return of The Southern Lights also begins the next transformation of Trustmark Park.

The Mud Monsters may still have games left to play on the road, but back home, the ballpark will soon begin shifting from summer nights, baseball and fireworks into Christmas lights, cold nights and skates on the ice.

“That’s one of my favorite things about The Southern Lights,” Kerr said. “It’s still Trustmark Park, but it doesn’t feel like the same place. We get to take a ballpark people already have memories in and completely reimagine it for Christmas.”

More details surrounding the 2026 edition of The Southern Lights will be revealed in the coming weeks, including event dates, operating hours, ticket information and additional experiences planned for this year’s event.

Sponsorship opportunities and group outings are available now by contacting the Mississippi Mud Monsters.