Alabama offers its own range of entertainment and family fun for the season. Visitors and residents alike will enjoy experiencing the lights, sights and sounds of the various events.
For a complete listing of Christmas events in Alabama, visit www.800alabama.com.
Alabama Events
Nov. 24–Dec. 31: Galaxy of Lights, Huntsville Botanical Garden; 256-830-4447.
Travel through a twinkling fantasy world where lampposts are shooting stars and Santa flies high through the night sky.
This one-mile lighted drive features 150 exhibits in five major theme areas.
Nov. 25–Dec. 31: Magic Christmas in Lights, Bellingrath Gardens and Home in Theodore, 8 a.m.–9 p.m.; 1-800-247-8420 or 251-973-2217.
Located about 25 miles from downtown Mobile, the magic of Christmas comes alive with more than 3 million twinkling lights, animated scenes, music and a nativity scene.
The Bellingrath Home will be decorated in holiday finery and splendor and guided tours are available.
Nov. 26: Christmas Festival and Parade, Elba; 334-897-3125.
Enjoy a day of live entertainment, arts and crafts, train rides, pony rides and more. Also children can have their pictures made with live reindeer. The parade begins at 4:30 p.m.
Nov. 27–Dec 3: Christmas on the River, Demopolis; 334-289-0270.
Take part in a weeklong celebration along the Tombigbee River that includes tours of antebellum homes, a live nativity scene, children’s day parade and the popular nautical parade Dec. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 28–Jan. 1: Christmas Sound, Light & Water Show, DeSoto Caverns Park in Childersburg, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. daily and 1–4:30 p.m. on Sundays; 1-800-933-2283.
Dec. 1–31: Festival of Lights, Phenix City Riverwalk; 334-291-4719.
Enjoy a Victorian village, deer, snowmen, Old Man Winter, carolers, Santa’s toy factory, a jumping frog and a waving Santa. The city will also hold its annual Christmas parade Dec. 10.
Christmas sound, laser light and water show presents the birth of Christ on every cavern tour.
Dec. 2: Hueytown Candlelight Stroll, Hueytown, 6 p.m.; 205-491-8039.
Carolers holding candles will stroll along the candlelit High School Road to begin the Christmas season.
Beginning at Knight’s Triangle, carolers will stroll to the illuminated Stadium Park, where songs of the season will be featured along with the lighting of the tree.
Dec. 3–10: Festival of Trees, Florence; 256-765-4201.
Interior designers and floral artists deck Coby Hall on the University of North Alabama campus in holiday splendor. Each room features Christmas trees based on a special theme.
Dec. 4: A Plantation Christmas, Belle Mont Mansion in Tuscumbia, 1–5 p.m.; 256-383-0783.
Enjoy an “Old South” holiday event with traditional decorations, period Christmas music and refreshments at one of Alabama’s most distinguished homes, built circa 1828. Interpreters in period costumes provide glimpses of the past.
Dec. 4: Jemison-Van de Graaff Mansion Open House, Tuscaloosa, 2–4 p.m.; 205-758-2906.
Tour the 1859 Italianate mansion adorned with period decorations. Entertainment and refreshments are provided.
Dec. 6: Dickens Downtown, Northport, 5–9 p.m.; 205-758-1257.
The streets of downtown Northport will come alive with Victorian music, crafts and family activities. Holiday music will fill the night air. The shops and art galleries are open, and merchants are dressed in traditional Victorian costume.
Dec. 7–11: Victorian Front Porch Christmas, Opelika; 1-866-880-8747.
The streets are transformed into a Victorian Christmas fairyland with old-world Christmas figures adorning the porches of more than 50 turn-of-the-century homes.
Dec. 12–16: Pioneer Christmas, Troy, 6–8 p.m.; 334-566-3597.
Start the holidays off with an old-fashioned candlelit walk to the Pioneer Museum of Alabama’s log church. Enjoy guitar and fiddle players, baked treats, exhibits and Christmas hymns in the church.
Dec. 16–23 and 26–30: ZooLight Safari, Birmingham Zoo, 5–9 p.m.; 205-879-0409.
Enjoy half a million twinkling lights and the ZooLight Express train. Visitors can also enjoy a wildlife show featuring animals from colder climates, and be sure to stop by the barn in the Children’s Zoo for a holiday photo.
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