Philips Hue Festavia – smart string lights that do color gradients on your tree

By Ricardo de Jong ·

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing extra.

Friends laughing at a dinner table in front of a Christmas tree lit with purple and white Philips Hue Festavia string lights

Every December the same ritual. I pull the Christmas lights out of the box, untangle them for twenty minutes, and then pick between two settings: “on” and “disco”.

The Philips Hue Festavia are smart string lights: 250 tiny color LEDs on a 65-foot cord that you control from the Hue app. Warm white for a classy tree, a slow color gradient for the party, orange for Halloween.

One set of lights for every holiday. My storage box approves.

Close-up of Philips Hue Festavia string lights glowing pink, red and yellow

What are the Philips Hue Festavia string lights?

They’re Hue’s take on fairy lights. This version has 250 mini LEDs spaced 3.15 inches apart on a black cord of 65.6 feet, with a power supply in the box. Hue also sells shorter and longer versions. Sets made since 2023 work indoors and outdoors, so you can wrap a tree in the living room or the one in your front yard.

Every LED does color and every shade of white from warm to cool. They talk Bluetooth and Zigbee and work with Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home and Matter.

How do they work?

You don’t control every single LED. Hue gives you points along the string and blends the colors in between. There are three styles: Linear (one gradient from end to end), Scattered (up to five colors mixed along the string) and Mirrored (two gradients that mirror from the center). On top of that come effects like Sparkle and Prism, which add movement.

Hue’s page says they work without Wi-Fi over Bluetooth. A Hue Bridge adds the extras, like syncing the lights to music, according to the Amazon listing. If you already have Hue bulbs, you can put the Festavia in the same scenes and routines, so the tree turns on with the living room lamps.

The good and the not-so-good

The good:

  • The gradients. Trusted Reviews said the color segments on the second-gen set blend beautifully.
  • They work all year: Christmas, Halloween, birthdays, a balcony in summer.
  • They join your existing Hue scenes, timers and voice commands.
  • Amazon buyers give them 4.6 out of 5 from 273 ratings at the time of writing.

The not-so-good:

  • The price. About 260 bucks for one string is a lot when regular lights cost 20.
  • TechRadar thought they lack personality on a Christmas tree compared with cheaper, festive-first lights. Trusted Reviews missed classic flashing and blinking modes.
  • TechRadar also called the black cord unsightly. On a green tree you won’t see it. On a white wall you will.
  • No per-LED control. If you want to draw shapes or text with your lights, look elsewhere.

Who are the Philips Hue Festavia for?

Hue households first. If your home already runs on Hue, these slot right in, and the tree becomes part of your evening scene. They also make a good gift for the person who decorates for every holiday and wants one set of lights to do it all.

If you want per-LED animations and don’t care about Hue, Twinkly is the usual alternative; we covered their Twinkly Flex light tube. And for Hue’s bedroom side, there’s the Philips Hue Twilight wake-up light.

Where can I buy the Philips Hue Festavia?

Amazon US sells the 65-foot set with 250 LEDs, and a 130-foot set with 500 LEDs for big trees. The 250-LED set was about 260 bucks at the time of writing (October 2026).

You still have to untangle them. Hue hasn’t fixed that one yet.