What holiday traditions are unique to your hometown?

[darcerin]

Zoolights! Every year the Smithsonian Zoo is decorated with lights meant to look like animals and they have some carnival stuff! The Zoo is free so it’s always fun to go there and look at the lights (and the horses in the farm area)

Oh yes, I went to that in...2018? 2019? It was great!

 

[Sassarazzmadazzles]

Santa was driving around tonight! I heard the sirens but didn’t get to see him cause he won’t come down my road cause it’s a dead end

 

[Twinkle-eye]

Our Santa had a tractor :O

 

[strawberrypony32]

Wait, yall have santas that ride around?

 

[Jellybean]

Not a tradition but related: I heard "HO HO HO HO" outside my home again yesterday evening, the very same Santa voice I heard a few days ago when posting in the Continue the Story thread, so I popped out the front door, heard footsteps crunching in the snow, and from behind the hedges appears Santa, just walking briskly down the sidewalk, wearing a safety vest over his red suit! I said "Oh, it IS Santa!" and he stopped and waved and said he's delivering packages! He just decided to dress up as Santa to make it more fun for everyone. I said I heard him delivering on our block the other day and he laughed. He said it's been great, he happened to deliver a package for a little boy's first Christmas and the tot grinned ear to ear. I thought it was awesome, such a nice way to make a bright spot out of what I'm sure is a high-pressure job at a stressful time of year.

 

[StormMaeker]

Not a tradition but related: I heard "HO HO HO HO" outside my home again yesterday evening, the very same Santa voice I heard a few days ago when posting in the Continue the Story thread, so I popped out the front door, heard footsteps crunching in the snow, and from behind the hedges appears Santa, just walking briskly down the sidewalk, wearing a safety vest over his red suit! I said "Oh, it IS Santa!" and he stopped and waved and said he's delivering packages! He just decided to dress up as Santa to make it more fun for everyone. I said I heard him delivering on our block the other day and he laughed. He said it's been great, he happened to deliver a package for a little boy's first Christmas and the tot grinned ear to ear. I thought it was awesome, such a nice way to make a bright spot out of what I'm sure is a high-pressure job at a stressful time of year.

Something similar happened a couple of nights ago and I don’t think it’s happened before. A couple of nights ago I heard carols playing and I looked outside and I saw lights go past like on a van. When I went out to check it out, it was a Santa on a carriage of lights being pulled collecting charity! There was a few kids out to see too and I think it’s the same lights from the charity house I mentioned before

 

[AzaleaArt]

I don’t think they’ve done it since 2020 happened, but there used to be an ice carving display/demonstration downtown which was kinda cool. There’d be a sculpture in front of each shop and then one being carved for people to watch in front of the big Christmas tree
Also there’s this big cement mixing truck that gets all wrapped in lights and drives through all the smaller neighborhoods playing Christmas music, it’s super bright so kinda cool.
The flynn theater always puts on the nutcracker but it sells out in like September so I had never been before this year, it was so good! (And I’d wanted to see it since I was around 8 so I was very happy)
Other than that I don’t think there’s much unique where I am

 

[Gingerbread]

Hmmm, let's see. Well, here in Virginia we have Colonial Williamsburg, they get dolled up for Christmas, and of course there are the usual tacky light tours, and drive thru light displays. We also have a Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and a King's Dominion amusement park, both do Christmas celebrations Nov.-Jan. and are about an hour give/take away, but my favorite things to do every year are;

driving to the mountains to see A Christmas Carol play here; https://americanshakespearecenter.com/ I'm lucky to be right in the middle, I can get up in the mountains or have my toes in the ocean in about an hour and a half, I just gotta head East or West. We go see this show every year and spend the day in the little town of Staunton, they have some cute shops and great restaurants and then we just head home. This year on the drive up it was snowing

I also enjoy the Sunday brunch at the Jefferson, https://www.jeffersonhotel.com/dine/champagne-sunday-brunch it's been closed the past 2 years cause of covid but this year was the return and we enjoyed that a few weekends ago. Reservations sell out within hours. It's a beautiful hotel and they decorate it all up and Santa will be there. All you can eat and drink! It's a good excuse to put on your fancy clothes. I did take a picture of the giant Christmas tree we were sitting beside (cause I know what tables to request ) and the Grinch ice sculpture. I asked our server how often they have to replace the ice sculpture and he says they do it every service! I figured they could at least roll him back in the freezer and use him a couple times! Poor Grinch! We're only about 15 minutes away from downtown Richmond so this is a convenient event, but driving through the historical areas of downtown can be fun, bouncing along the cobblestone streets seeing all the old houses decorated up can be really pretty.



Those are probably my 2 favorite things to do but there are plenty of Christmas shows and concerts. Trans Siberian Orchestra comes here every year and I've done that several times, I went to a Harry Connick Jr Christmas concert this year. There is always plenty of fun festive things to do.