The Most Festive Town In Every State

Many people consider Europe to be home to many of the world's ultimate holiday destinations. While the Christmas markets of Germany, the light displays of London or Santa's workshop in Norway can certainly be magical, Americans are also particularly lucky to have cities across the country that put on jaw-dropping celebrations in honor of the holiday season. In fact, there is a city in every one of the 50 states that goes above and beyond when it comes to inspiring Christmas cheer and goodwill toward humankind. From small hamlets to big metropolises, these all-American destinations have events, decorations, shopping and more that will add a magic touch to the season. Many of these towns have unique cultural and historical activities and traditions as well, many of which are based on their location, history and immigrant populations. These elements add special local color to the holiday festivities, making the town stand out even more this time of year.

Every year in Andalusia, Alabama, it feels a lot like Christmas even with no snow in the forecast. This small town's historic courthouse square transforms into Candyland, a free family event with "snow" and light shows, themed cottages for kids to play in, a maze, holiday train rides, tubing and ice skating.

While larger cities such as Fairbanks certainly know how to celebrate the holidays, nothing can top the Christmas cheer of North Pole, Alaska, home to its own year-round version of Santa's workshop. Kids can meet Kris Kringle and his reindeer there any day of the year, but the town really knows how to do Christmas itself by hosting special events like a world-class ice carving contest. There's also a 42-foot-tall Santa statue outside and festive signs and road names around town, including Snowman Lane, Saint Nicholas Drive, Holiday Road and Santa Claus Lane.

Known as Arizona's Christmas City, Prescott more than earns its nickname thanks to its charming Victorian architecture and lineup of holiday celebrations. More than a 100 trees come alive with almost one million twinkling lights at the historic Courthouse Plaza during the annual Christmas tree lighting. There's also a parade, free weekend holiday carriage rides downtown, the Frontier Christmas Open House at the Sharlot Hall Museum and World's Largest Gingerbread Village at the Prescott Resort and Conference Center, which has more than 1,000 gingerbread structures.

Hot Springs might be famous as "America's Spa," but this historic town also has wonderful holiday decorations. Garvan Woodland Gardens are illuminated with more than 4 million lights spread across 17 acres of animated displays. The city's Christmas parade features fun themed floats, and there are light displays downtown and on Arlington Lawn in Hot Springs National Park.

Newport Beach puts a California twist on a traditional holiday parade with its annual Christmas Boat Parade, a five-night precession with fireworks and more than 100 illuminated boats splendidly decorated with lights and moving parts based around a fun annual theme. Some owners spend up to $50,000 on their displays! The Lighting of the Bay at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort sees Santa arrive by stand-up paddle board to light 50 electric Christmas trees on the water. Crystal Cove beach also has its own seaside tree lighting complete with a holiday bazaar, carolers and complimentary hot chocolate and apple cider.

Durango is a great Colorado city to visit in any season, but during the winter, the city's famous narrow-gauge railroad becomes the Polar Express, taking travelers on a magical ride that brings to life the classic Christmas book. The trip includes hot chocolate, caroling and a visit from Santa. Seasonal events include a holiday arts and crafts festival, concerts, a procession with Santa to the lighting of the Community Christmas Tree, and a unique winter solstice event at Aztec Ruins National Monument.

Known for much more than pizza, the historic Connecticut town of Mystic is one of the most picturesque places in New England to spend the holiday season. The city kicks off the festivities with a lighted boat parade, in which Santa Claus arrives by 60-foot tugboat. The Mystic Seaport Museum puts on Lantern Light Tours with costumed performers explaining Christmas traditions of centuries past on a walking tour with a horse-drawn carriage ride. The aquarium throws a Winterfest celebration, or you can check out a Winter Carnival at the Olde Mistick Village.

Like the Vanderbilts or Rockefellers, the DuPonts were one of the wealthiest families in America. Three DuPont mansions in northern Delaware around Wilmington are elaborately trimmed for the holidays. The Yuletide at Winterthur adornments include a dried-flower tree made of more than 60 varieties of flowers, an antique Santa collection and even a 18-room dollhouse mansion decorated for Christmas. The French-inspired Hagley Museum and Library has special events like a Gingerbread House Contest and Twilight Tours on top of its traditional decor, while the trees at Nemours Mansion & Gardens are decorated with hand-painted ornaments dating back to the early 1900s.

Key West shines bright during the holiday season with over 61,000 lights and 58 lighted palm trees on its Harbor Walk of Lights. The city hosts a traditional Hometown Holiday Parade on land as well as the Lighted Boat Parade on sea, adding a little Florida flair to the holiday fun. Take holiday lights tour, see darling decorations during the Key West House and Garden Tour and the Holiday Historic Inn Tours, or bring your best homemade ornament to try to win a prize at the Schooner Wharf Tree Trimming Party.

The Bavarian-inspired town of Helen, Georgia, kicks off its holiday celebrations the day after Thanksgiving, when Santa and Mrs. Claus light up the town center. During the rest of the month, the city hosts a Christkindlmarkt, a Christmas parade and a Festival of Trees featuring lovely decorated trees and wreaths.

The capital of Hawaii is known for its aloha spirit — and its Christmas spirit. The city has a big Christmas parade, and Santa comes to town at the Outrigger Hotel by arriving via outrigger canoe. While other mainland hotels might have ice sculptures, the Sheraton Waikiki erects massive holiday-themed sand sculptures. The Polynesian Cultural Center hosts the 12 Days of Polynesia, which includes a "snow day" with fresh snow to play in. The Honolulu City Lights display is dazzling and can be seen on a trolley tour.

Holiday visitors to Coeur D'Alene are in for a one-of-a-kind delight. The small city's downtown resort is home to the the tallest living Christmas tree in the world, which is a grand fir that stands 162 feet tall. It's more than twice the height of the tree that typically stands in New York's Rockefeller Plaza and requires 30,000 lights and 2 miles of extension cords to illuminate. Take a night cruise to the "North Pole" to meet Santa amid a display of over 1.5 million lights with a fireworks show that's one of the largest in the Northwest.

Chicago hosts many magical events leading up to the holidays. Mickey and Minnie Mouse lead the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival parade, which officially illuminates the more than one million lights on the famed Michigan Avenue. The Macy's on State Street puts up nostalgic holiday window displays, or you can shop at the German Christkindlmarket. The Museum of Science and Industry hosts a yearly display of more than 50 Christmas trees from around the world, all encircling an almost 50-foot-tall Grand Tree. The Lincoln Park Zoo is lit up with 100 displays, while the Morton Arboretum displays the beauty of trees in winter with music and interactive light designs.

Santa Claus, Indiana, has fully embraced its holly, jolly name with a variety of Christmas-themed activities. Shop for sweets at Santa's Candy Castle and decorations at the Evergreen Christmas Store or visit the Santa Claus Arts & Crafts show. Watch a a choreographed light show in Kringle Place Shopping Center or the annual Christmas parade. Get active during the Dancer's Dash 5K or Nightmare Before Christmas Golf Scramble. And whatever else you do, make sure to get your Christmas cards stamped with the one-and-only Santa Claus postmark.

Clear Lake is a winter wonderland destination in Iowa, and residents and out-of-towners alike flock to the annual Christmas by the Lake celebration. It includes a parade, strolling Dickens characters, a holiday bazaar, a treasure hunt and horse-drawn sleigh rides, and fireworks over the frozen lake, among other activities. The Festival of Trees has more than 100 decorated trees and wreaths as well as Santa's workshop.

Ride the miniature Polar Express train, go ice skating, take a carriage ride and more in Wichita this holiday season. The Arc's Lights drive-through display is an amazing tunnel of lights with more than one million lights. Botanica community garden is also decked out with more than a million lights during its Illuminations celebration. The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum hosts a Holiday Wreath Festival, and there are plenty of chances for kids to meet Santa around the city.

Southeast of Louisville is Bardstown, a must-see small town for anyone visiting Kentucky. Home to hundreds of protected historic buildings and nine distilleries, you can definitely find ways to stay warm during a winter visit in this bourbon mecca. The city gets into the holiday spirit with its annual Light Up Bardstown celebration. Federal Hill, better known as My Old Kentucky Home, is trimmed with Civil War-era decor and Kentucky-themed Christmas trees. Costumed guides can take you on a tour of the house, or you can ride and dine on the historic My Old Kentucky Dinner Train.

Around the holidays, New Orlean's Celebration in the Oaks puts on one of the country's best light displays. St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square and St. Augustine Church in the Treme neighborhood host a series of free holiday concerts. During Miracle on Fulton Street, the boulevard turns into a winter wonderland with lights, gingerbread displays and hourly "snow" fall. Many of the city's eateries host sumptuous traditional Reveillon feasts on Christmas Eve. That same night, you can see bonfires illuminate the levees on the opposite side of the Mississippi River.

Christmas festivities get a Maine twist in Ogunquit, which erects a "tree" made of lobster traps and twinkling lights. The city's Christmas By the Sea celebration includes caroling at Perkins Cove, a tree lighting at Veterans Park, wagon rides, an arts and crafts show, a food and wine tasting, a beach bonfire, a polar plunge and a parade.

The port city of Annapolis celebrates its nautical and military roots and coastal location with its Christmas pastimes. You can drive through Lights on the Bay along the shores of Sandy Point State Park. See the official state tree at the State House or visit City Dock to see the city's tannenbaum. The decks will be decked on more than 70 boats in the Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade. Homes that are part of Historic Annapolis also host holiday open houses to peruse their Christmas decorations.

It might be well-known as a summer destination, but Nantucket is equally charming at Christmastime. Main Street closes down for the town's annual Christmas Stroll. The Stroll promotes local shopping with a craft fair and stores giving out mulled wine and cookies. Carolers roam the streets, which are lined with hundreds of 7-foot Christmas trees leading up to the centerpiece 20-foot tree that magically "talks." The Nantucket Town Crier announces the arrival of Santa by Coast Guard boat. Other festivities include ice carving, cookie decorating and an ugly sweater competition. The Nantucket Whaling Museum also has more than 80 decorated trees on display starting in December.

Frankenmuth is a small town-sized ode to Christmas. Known as Michigan's "Little Bavaria," it's home to a replica of Austria's Silent Night Chapel, where the iconic Christmas song was first written and performed. But the town's biggest claim to fame is Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, which claims to be the world's largest Christmas store. The store houses more than over 50,000 items, including dazzling displays of decor that are an attraction in and of themselves. Although the town celebrates Christmas all year, holiday season events include gingerbread house and pretzel rolling workshops, a Christkindlmarkt and a German Christmas Songfest.

Winter in Minnesota can be brutal, but the residents of Red Wing throw a party worth braving the cold for. Its annual Holiday Stroll is one jam-packed day full of unique ways to get into the Christmas spirit. Grab a drink at the ice bar, enjoy fire dancers, take a reindeer sleigh ride to see the lights downtown, watch fireworks and a light parade, bid on fantastical decorations at the Festival of Wreaths and go on a scavenger hunt for the Holiday Stroll Medallion hidden around town. If you have a moment to spare between all the excitement, pick up a commemorative ornament to remember the special celebration.

Since it's a college town, you might think Oxford, home of the University of Mississippi, would feel like a ghost town when students are on winter break. But locals fill the peaceful nights with joyful affairs such as a holiday market, charity ornament auction and a parade. The Gingerbread Village has grown from four houses when it started in 2010 to dozens of real cookie recreations of buildings on the University of Mississippi campus as well as famous homes and scenes from pop culture.

Branson is a hub for family-friendly attractions in the Ozarks, and it goes big when it comes to the holiday season. Branson Landing is dripping in lights, and there are multiple drive-through light displays and live entertainment options to get you in the holiday spirit. Silver Dollar City has a holiday parade, nightly light shows and 1,000 decorated Christmas trees. Branson Scenic Railway transforms into the Polar Express and offers magical rides.

Already one of Montana's most beautiful towns, the mountain town of Whitefish kicks off the holidays with a downtown Christmas Stroll. The event includes a Christmas tree lighting and Western wagon rides. Santa Claus comes to town in ski town style by leading a torchlight parade of skiers and snowboarders down the slopes of Big Mountain before handing out presents to good children. The Glacier Symphony chorale and orchestra will also perform holiday tunes as well as the Handel's classic "Messiah."

There are plenty of places to see magical sights in Omaha. The Durham Museum has a 40-foot tree as the centerpiece of Christmas at Union Station, which includes a tree lighting and a cultural festival that celebrates traditions from around the world. If poinsettias help set the holiday scene for you, head to the Lauritzen Gardens to see 5,000 poinsettias in 20 different varieties as well as a 20-foot-tall poinsettia tree. Visit at night to see the gardens aglow with Christmas music and crackling fires really setting the seasonal mood. More than 40 blocks in downtown Omaha will be illuminated for the Holiday Lights Festival from Thanksgiving until New Year's.

Las Vegas is already known for its lights, but the hotels on the Strip go all out with holiday decorations. The Cosmopolitan's ice skating rink looks down on the strip and has fires for roasting marshmallows and nightly "snowfall." The Bellagio turns its conservatory into a Christmas display, while the Venetian puts up a 65-foot-tall Christmas tree with 50,000 lights. The LINQ Promenade also turns into a winter scene with nightly "snow" every 30 minutes, more than 2,000 lights synced to music and carolers. Ethel M Chocolates Factory's cactus garden gets decorated with half a million lights, and plenty of venues will have special Christmas entertainment.

Step back in time this winter by visiting the city of Portsmouth. The city's historic homes look lovely dusted with snow. Shop locally owned stores in Market Square, which also hosts holiday activities such as a parade and a gingerbread contest. The Strawbery Banke Museum preserves and celebrates the city's past. It puts on a holiday Candlelight Stroll in which historic homes are decked in decorations and lights. Costumed performers are on hand to explain vintage Christmas traditions. You can also ice skate on Puddle Dock Pond alongside costumed Victorian skaters meant to evoke the charming scenes of Currier and Ives.

The seaside town of Cape May celebrates its history and Victorian architecture during the holiday season, turning into a tableau like one in a snowglobe. Washington Street Mall hosts hospitality nights in which carolers and holiday treats add cheer to your Christmas shopping. The city also has a cheerful Christmas Tree Lighting and parade and trolley tours of holiday lights. Many of Cape May's decorated inns, private homes and churches are open for self-guided candlelight tours.

The small southwestern town of Taos is truly magical around the holidays. The city's unique architecture glistens with the glow of hundreds of farolitos, the small paper lanterns that are a New Mexico holiday tradition. Carolers and a Southwestern Santa help celebrate the illuminations from farolitos, luminarias and bonfires during the Lighting of Ledoux event. Another Taos neighborhood joins in on the fun with the Bonfires on Bent Street, which features Aztec fire dancers and iconic New Mexico foods like posole and green chile. Las Posadas is a nine-day celebration that is one of the most popular Christmas traditions in Northern New Mexico. It is a reenactment of Mary and Joseph's biblical journey. You can watch the culmination of this tradition at San Geronimo Church at Taos Pueblo on Christmas Eve then come back on Christmas Day to witness the Deer Dance.

There's a reason NYC is world-famous for its holiday celebrations. The city goes crazy with Christmas spirit from its iconic department store window displays to the massive tree at Rockefeller Center. There are Christmas markets across the city in places like Grand Central Station, Bryant Park, Columbus Circle and Union Square. Check out the lights in Dyker Heights, see the Rockettes, and if you're a Christmas mega-fan, camp out for a spot along the parade route to see Santa Claus come to town in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The Biltmore Estate, the largest private home in America, is located in the charming city of Asheville. The halls of this stunning home are dramatically decked each year with more than 50 decorated Christmas trees. During your visit, enjoy live music, wine tastings, a conservatory full of holiday greenery and more. The Antler Hill Village's shops and restaurants will also be atwinkle, and the area transforms into a Victorian town for the Old World Dickens in the Village Festival.

If you're not from North Dakota, you might not be familiar with the town of Garrison, known as the state's official Christmas capital. The town's annual Dickens Village Festival sees the city transported back in time to the Victorian era with Dickensian entertainment, including strolling characters, performances of his works and a Dickens quilt show. Other activities are more England-inspired, such as rides on a red double-decker bus, a fruit cake toss, a top hat decorating workshop and a British high tea service.

Cleveland already has a Christmas claim to fame as the location of the house from "A Christmas Story," but it brings the holiday magic at a variety of events. Downtown's Winterfest includes a tree lighting, ice skating, horse-drawn carriage rides and more. Cleveland Botanical Garden lights up with thousands of bulbs, and the Cleveland Museum of Arts Winter Lights' Lantern Festival includes a procession of dancers, puppets and more. See the various lights throughout the city on a Holiday Light trolley tour or attend a holiday show at the Cleveland Orchestra.

To get in the Christmas spirit in Oklahoma, OKC is the place to be. The monthlong Downtown in December event includes ice skating, tubing and horse-drawn carriage rides. You can also take free river and canal cruises to see the Christmas lights and window displays throughout the Bricktown Entertainment District. Bricktown also sees the city's Grand Chanukah Celebration, a giant menorah lighting with live music, latkes and more. The city also hosts multiple holiday markets, fairs and bazaars with wares from local artisans, meaning you have plenty of places to find the perfect gifts.

While Oregon has plenty of small towns with great celebrations, Portland has something for everyone when it comes to holiday festivities. The Grotto's Christmas Festival of Lights is the largest Christmas choral festival in the world and hosts five concerts every evening during the holiday season. It also includes a holiday light displays with more than 500,000 lights. Beer aficionados will love tasting the more than 50 craft beers showcased at the Holiday Ale Festival. A 200-piece tuba band heralds the arrival of a 75-foot Christmas tree to Pioneer Square. The Oregon Zoo's Zoo Lights, the houses on Peacock Lane and the Christmas Ship Parade all offer awesome ways to see magical light displays.

Bernville is known throughout the state as the home of Koziar's Christmas Village. It began in 1948, when a man decorated his farm for Christmas and it attracted spectators. Since then, the decor has grown into a whole charming Christmas town made up of decorated seasonal shops including Santa's post office and workshop and a holiday bakery draped in more than one million lights. Other sights include displays of a manger and the 12 Days of Christmas, a kissing bridge, costumed characters and more.

If you're a fan of classic celebrations of the past, head to Newport during the holiday season. Downtown Newport celebrates with concerts, craft fairs, lantern walking tours, a Christmas high tea, a door decorating contest and more. But the crown jewel of Newport at Christmastime is the beautiful decorations at the Newport mansions, including Vanderbilt family home the Breakers. These elegant Gilded Age homes are filled with thousands of poinsettias, fresh flowers, evergreens and wreaths.

One of the best towns in the country for a weekend getaway, Greenville, South Carolina's Main Street and the downtown Falls Park on the Reedy River get decorated with colorful lights that make a lovely backdrop for shopping or ice skating. Enjoy the Poinsettia Christmas Parade and the Festival of Trees, in which more than 100 decorated trees are displayed. Support local artisans at the Holiday Fair and the Makers Collective's craft holiday pop up, take a carriage ride, or sample local breweries on an ugly sweater bar crawl.

The state capitol is the place to be come December in South Dakota. For Christmas at the Capitol, Pierre's capitol building is filled with three stories of elaborate themed trees each year, with almost 100 on display. One of the most special is the official South Dakota Christmas tree, which is sourced from the Black Hills each year. Other festivities include a Parade of Lights, a holiday craft fair, concerts, ice skating and the Holiday Open House at the South Dakota State Historical Society.

Gatlinburg goes all out for Christmas with its Winterfest celebration, which lasts from early November to late February. See the fantastical decorations in the Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade and the Trolley Ride of Lights, or see the twinkling cities from above by visiting the top of the Gatlinburg Space Needle. Shop local wares at Christmas arts and crafts shows or head to Dollywood, which also gets all dolled up for the holidays and has special shows and costumed characters.

Fredericksburg celebrates its German roots by remembering Old World traditions but giving them some Texas flair. The city erects a traditional Christmas Pyramid in the Marktplatz, and the Pioneer Museum's Kinderfest teaches kids about Christmas customs of the past. Fredericksburg is located in Texas wine country and hosts an annual Christmas Wine Affair with tastings, tours and holiday entertainment. Explore the city's historic homes dressed for the holidays on the Christmas Home Tour, and catch the festive Light the Night Christmas Parade.

Park City makes for so much more than a great ski vacation around the holidays thanks to festive decor and events. Stein Eriksen Lodge erects a larger than life gingerbread structure every year, while the Egyptian Theatre hosts a holiday sing-a-long. Santa Claus comes to town via a ski lift chair decorated as a sleigh and covered with Christmas lights. Santa will later hit the slopes at the annual Traditional Torchlight Parade, where St. Nick leads more than 100 ski and snowboard instructors down the mountain. Park City Mountain's 16-day winter festival, Snowfest, brings in lots of holiday entertainment, including live music, cowboy shows, avalanche dog meet and greets, an ugly sweater party and more.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a more charming town than Woodstock during the holiday season. Aside from looking like a quaint snowy postcard scene come to life, the city is famous for its annual Wassail Weekend. Events include a parade, concerts, craft fairs, a holiday house tour, horse-drawn sleigh rides, a community yule log and a family-style wassail Feast.

Alexandria, Virginia, is famous for its unique holiday traditions. The city hosts Waterskiing Santa, a parade of water-skiing Christmas characters that's been a D.C.-area tradition for 30 years. The Scottish Christmas Walk Parade celebrates the town's heritage, while Holly's Tacky Christmas Lights at 1601 Collingwood Road draw visitors from miles around to see the elaborate home display. Visit Mount Vernon to watch fireworks choreographed to holiday music, to take a charming candlelight tour and to meet Aladdin the Christmas Camel.

Modeled after Bavaria, the town of Leavenworth is like a taste of the Old World with its dramatic backdrop of the Cascade Mountains, its German architecture and its European holiday celebrations. The city hosts two big holiday festivals each year: a Christkindlmarkt with crafts, entertainment and food and the Christmas Lighting Festival, in which the village is covered in 500,000 Christmas lights. Leavenworth also offers concerts, tubing, sleigh and dogsled rides and more ways to enjoy this winter wonderland.

At the historic Greenbrier resort, the holiday season is two months long, so it has events galore during its 60 Days of Holiday Cheer. Concerts, balls, sleigh rides, a yule log, and wine tastings as well as workshops on holiday pastimes like dancing, cookie decorating and mixology are just a few of the festive activities. Mrs. Claus is on hand at the resort's Christmas store to help you pick out the perfect ornament. The property is overflowing with decorations wherever you look, including a 2,000-pound chocolate display, more than 100 Christmas trees, 120,000 lights and 2,000 poinsettias.

The halls are decked each December at the Wisconsin State Capitol, where a 40-foot Wisconsin-grown balsam fir is decorated with about 2,400 lights and 1,400 ornaments handmade by residents across the state. The mansion and gardens of the historic Governor's Residence are decorated as well and open for free tours. Stock up on amazing local goods and seasonal treats at the holiday edition of the Dane County Farmers Market. The Holiday Open House has shopping as well as trolley rides and carolers. Check out the zoo's Zoo Lights or learn about the different holiday traditions of immigrants to Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Historical Society's "An Old World Christmas" holiday event.

A popular, rustic ski destination, Jackson has plenty of holiday charm to offer. Its iconic elk antler arches get draped with thousands of LED lights ahead of the annual Town Square lighting. You can take a horse-drawn sleigh ride to see elk, moose, bison and pronghorn roaming through powdery plains on a winter wildlife tour of Grand Teton, Yellowstone or the National Elk Refuge. If you hang around until New Year's, you'll also get to see fireworks and a torchlight parade that lights up the mountainside at this top American winter destination.

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