Destination: U.S. Holiday Events 1994 : Glow Time, U.S.A. : Cities around the country lighten up for the holiday season

Home for the holidays is the romantic ideal. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Presents under the tree. Visits from loved ones. Children nestled all snug in their beds. A sink full of greasy pots and pans. Bored relatives sniping at each other for entertainment. Harried last-minute shopping. Sugarplums stuck to the drapes.

Maybe away for the holidays isn’t such a bad idea after all.

All over the country, professional tourism elves have been festooning their hometowns with baubles, bows and twinkling lights, all to help visitors reach holiday nirvana. They’ve provided pageantry and jollity and all the shopping you could want to do (as if you have a choice).

Of course, these Christmas extravaganzas also help keep the elves in jobs, giving many places new life in the wintertime.

Branson, Mo., has more than doubled its winter crowd since introducing Ozark Mountain Winter in 1988, and winter employment has soared. The Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tenn., inaugurated a winter season last year, following in the very successful footsteps of the Opryland Hotel, which introduced its Country Christmas in 1984. In Arizona, Tempe will have its first Fantasy of Lights this year, patterned after a successful one in Niagara Falls, although the goal is more about community spirit than attracting additional winter visitors, says Aimee Fantazier of the convention and visitors bureau.

But for you, it’s all just a chance to indulge in a little Christmas you don’t have to clean up after. Take a jaunt now, just for the fun of it, or, if you happen to be going to one of these places anyway, plan a little mid-holiday escape from that houseful of bickering relatives.

What follows is a sampling of some of the country’s holiday celebrations, listed alphabetically by state. If you don’t find the right festival here, the elves at any convention and visitors bureau or chamber of commerce should be able to help.

Arizona

Tempe’s new Fantasy of Lights, now through Jan. 8, includes the holiday lights of downtown as well as Kris Kringle Market, patterned after the traditional Bavarian Christkindlmarkt, and Zoo Lights! at the Phoenix Zoo. Telephone (602) 894-8158.

Prescott is Arizona’s official Christmas City. Its season kicks off Dec. 3 with a Christmas parade and a concert by the Navajo Nation Band. Tel. (800) 266-7534.

Red Rock Fantasy lights up Sedona at the Los Abrigados Resort and Spa, with more than 50 holiday-themed exhibits by artists from all over Arizona, as well as surrey rides, caroling, Santa and all the trimmings. Visit for free ($5 for close-in parking) or buy a one-night holiday package at the resort (prices start at $199). Tel. (800) 521-3131.

Arkansas

Bathhouse Row, Hot Springs’ street of historic bathhouses, will be bathed in the light of thousands of luminarias (candles in paper bags) during Hot Springs National Park’s Holiday in the Park. The luminaria lighting Dec. 13 and 14 is one of a series of events, including Christmas in the Galleries on Dec. 10 and 17, during which art galleries are open late and offer music, and a Christmas choral festival at Arlington Park on Dec. 16. Tel. (800) SPA-CITY.

California

The Mendocino coast season starts with a tree lighting Nov. 30 at the Kelly House museum. The popular audience sing-along of Handel’s “Messiah” will be Dec. 4 at the Mendocino Presbyterian Church. For the children, Breakfast with Santa is Dec. 18 at the Mendocino Hotel. Tel. (800) 726-2780.

Coronado will have a Christmas open house at Ferry Landing Marketplace Dec. 2. The Cat in the Hat will read Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” every weekend at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort. Entries in a gingerbread house contest will be displayed in the lobby of Le Meridien San Diego all December. Coronado also has good views of the San Diego Bay Boat Parade of Lights on the nights of Dec. 11 and 18. Tel. (800) 622-8300.

San Francisco’s Western Addition, a district that is home to Victorian structures, will offer a series of Victorian-themed events, including a holiday home tour Dec. 10. The Ritz-Carlton will offer sweets and stories at Teddy Bear Teas afternoons through Dec. 18. Tel. (415) 296-7465.

Colorado

Christmas comes to Denver Dec. 2 and 3 with the Parade of Lights--bands, balloons and floats. Light displays include the City and County Building, the Denver Botanic Gardens and the Denver Zoo. Tel. (800) 645-3446.

The Lights of December parade in downtown Boulder is Dec. 2; historic homes will open to visitors Dec. 3 and 4. Tel. (303) 442-2911.

Connecticut

Mystic Seaport in Mystic offers its Yuletide Tour, which explores Christmas customs, and its Lantern Light Tour of an 1876 New England fishing village, complete with town characters. Tel. (800) 522-1841.

Florida

Christmas at Walt Disney World in Orlando is a full-blown affair, with millions of lights, dozens of trees and nightly lighting ceremonies and parades, fake snow on Christmas Street at Disney-MGM Studios and a new holiday fireworks display nightly at Epcot. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party will be Dec. 2, 3, 9, 10 and 16. Tel. (407) 824-4321.

St. Augustine, America’s oldest city, will play up its historical status with Olde World Christmas, including a Christmas parade Dec. 3 and an 18th-Century caroling procession Dec. 17. The city’s Victorian Christmas Service will be held at the 1889 Memorial Presbyterian Church on Christmas Day. Tel. (800) 653-2489.

Georgia

Callaway Gardens, a 2,500-acre resort in Pine Mountain (70 miles south of Atlanta), dresses itself up to offer its ride-through Fantasy in Lights. Drive your own car or take a “Jolly Trolley” through such scenes as Snowflake Valley and the Magical Christmas Garden. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Tel. (800) 282-8181.

Savannah will offer a tour of gracious old homes Dec. 17 and 18 in its National Landmark Historic District, one of the largest in the country. Tel. (912) 236-8362 or (912) 234-4088.

Illinois

Chicago’s Miracle Mile, the Fifth Avenue of the Midwest, lights up for holiday shopping. In the Spirit at the Chicago Cultural Center is a season-long festival of films and performances celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. The Lincoln Park Zoo will be Caroling to the Animals Dec. 4. Tel. (800) 487-2446.

Louisiana

The monthlong New Orleans Christmas celebration includes a candlelight tour of historic homes on Dec. 14; caroling on Jackson Square Dec. 18; the Children’s Victorian Christmas at Longue Vue House and Gardens Dec. 10 and holiday cooking classes with prominent chefs at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Reveillon, a lavish meal traditionally served after midnight Mass, will be featured at many restaurants all month. Tel. (504) 522-5730.

Massachusetts

The Boston Common Tree Lighting, a hallowed tradition in a town that knows from hallowed, takes place Dec. 4. Black Nativity--spirituals, Bible verse, carols and poetry--will be at the National Center of Afro-American Artists Dec. 2-18. A number of historic churches offer Christmas Eve services, and the Hanukkah Celebration/Menorah Lighting will take place on Summer Street Dec. 27. Tel. (800) 888-5515.

Missouri

Is there is no act that can’t be lured to Branson? This year it’s the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, complete with Rockettes, at the Grand Palace Theater. Branson’s theaters will be open for the holidays; there will be lights and the Old Time Country Christmas at Silver Dollar City theme park. Tel. (417) 334-4136.

Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza, the nation’s first shopping center, celebrates its 65th year of holiday brightening--in which every building in the area is outlined in lights. Tel. (816) 753-0100.

North Carolina

Winston-Salem indulges its Moravian roots with events including Salem Christmas on Dec. 17 in the Old Salem district. Tanglewood Park has a drive-through light festival. Tel. (800) 331-7018.

New Jersey

Cape May offers a Victorian Christmas, with trolley tours, candlelight tours and walking tours. Tel. (609) 884-5404.

New Mexico

Yuletide in Taos runs Dec. 1-15. The Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting is Dec. 4 and will include caroling and Native American dances. On Christmas Eve, you can join a torchlight ski procession down Snakedance at Taos Ski Valley, or watch the Procession of the Virgin, a Mass followed by a procession followed by traditional Native American dances at the Taos Pueblo. Tel. (800) 732-TAOS.

Santa Fe’s production of Las Posadas, which commemorates Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn, will be Dec. 18 at the Palace of the Governors. On Dec. 24 visitors may join the Farolito and Luminaria Walk in the Canyon Road area. Several area pueblos have Native American dancing on Christmas Day. Tel. (800) 777-2489.

New York

It’s virtually impossible to run out of Christmas in New York City. If you’ve done all the old standbys, consider Tuba Christmas, 300 tuba players playing holiday favorites on Dec. 11 at the Rockefeller Center ice rink. The South Street Seaport Museum has a 40-foot - tall human singing Christmas tree Thursday and Friday evenings, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The Kwanzaa Holiday Expo will be at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Dec. 16 to 19. Tel. (212) 397-8222.

Niagara Falls offers a Festival of Lights for the whole season. Of note are the nine-story-tall Oxylights, a display of lights that flicker in sync with music, and the indoor animated displays in the Carborundrum Center. Tel. (800) 338-7890.

Oregon

Springfield hosts the state’s largest Christmas parade on Dec. 3. Rickreall, near Salem, will hold its traditional Christmas pageant, an event nearly 50 years old, Dec. 6 and Dec. 8-11. Tel. (800) 547-7842.

Pennsylvania

It’s a childhood fantasy: Christmas in the capital of chocolate. Hersheypark, the candy bar manufacturer’s theme park in Hershey, will have the requisite Santa sightings, twinkling lights and singing, as well as people dressed up as giant chocolate bars. “A Little Princess,” the classic tear-jerker starring Shirley Temple, will be at the Hershey Theater Dec. 10; Nancy Kerrigan will skate at the Hersheypark Arena Dec. 13. Tel. (800) HERSHEY .

Rhode Island

See how the Vanderbilts might have decked their halls during Christmas at the Newport mansions. The lavish, turn-of-the-century mansions will be open Dec. 3-23, and Dec. 26-Jan. 1. A different home will be featured each Sunday. Practice for your own mansion at a wreath-making workshop Dec. 10 at the Green Animals Topiary Gardens in Portsmouth. Tel. (401) 847-1000.

Tennessee

Trappings at The Opryland Hotel in Nashville include a two-story gingerbread house and giant snowflakes. There are nightly medieval high jinks, country Christmas dinner-theater, and an art and craft fair. Extravaganzas at the Opryland USA theme park include a life-size, 75-figure Nativity scene, an ice rink and five themed areas.Tel. (615) 889-6611.

Texas

Galveston masquerades as Charles Dickens’ London for Dickens on the Strand Dec. 3 and 4. Locals dress as Dickens characters and parade the city’s beautifully restored 19th-Century Strand Historic District. There are handbell concerts, hot wassail and mulled wine. For tickets ($6; free for those in costume), tel. (409) 765-7834.

The River Walk in San Antonio glitters with lights over the holidays. Fiestas Navidenas at Market Square brings weekend celebrations, including pinata parties and visits from Pancho Claus. The Las Posadas re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn winds along the River Walk on Dec. 11. Tel. (800) 447-3372.

Virginia

Have a Revolutionary War Christmas in Yorktown Dec. 3-17 or a Civil War Christmas at the Ft. Ward Museum and Park in Alexandria on Dec. 10. You can help make decorations for the Arlington House in Arlington Cemetery on Dec. 13-15, or hear madrigal singers in the decorated house Dec. 18. Tel. (804) 786-4484.

Colonial Williamsburg covers itself in Christmas decorations and has a full schedule of events, including breakfast with Santa, caroling, concerts and feasting. Weekend packages at the Williamsburg Inn or the Williamsburg Lodge include holiday decoration workshops, cooking demonstrations and a holiday ball. Colonial Williamsburg fills up fast at Christmas and a four-day minimum stay is required in many instances. Tel. (800) HISTORY.

Washington

In Seattle, Christmas takes to the water. The Argosy cruise fleet’s Spirit of Seattle is draped in lights and leads a flotilla, while choirs sing on board. The ship stops at a different Puget Sound community each day in December for a bonfire party. A carousel will be whirling at Westlake Park most of December. Tel. (206) 461-5840.

Bellingham will host an International Creche Festival until Jan. 1, with about 300 handcrafted Nativity scenes from more than 30 countries displayed in store windows around town. Tel. (206) 734-9757.

Washington, D.C.

President Clinton lights the national Christmas tree on Dec. 8, after which the Ellipse will be the site of a burning Yule log and nightly chorale performances through December. Candlelight tours of the White House will be offered Dec. 27 to 29; they’re free and popular, so get there early. The Kennedy Center will have a season-long program of free and low-priced concerts, including a “Messiah” sing-along Dec. 23. Tel. (202) 789-7000.