The story is familiar: It’s Christmastime, and girl meets boy. They fall in love. Some kind of drama ensues and resolves, and they live happily ever after. The movie setting for this story typically is a small town with shop windows and streets all decked out for the holidays.
While we may never find ourselves in this kind of Hallmark-esque movie plot, visiting a festive and glittering small town during the holidays is entirely possible in Kentucky. Many of the Commonwealth’s cities pull out all the stops when it comes to celebrating the holidays. We highlighted a few to visit to get you into the holiday spirit.
Paducah
A Christmas parade, carriage rides, decorated storefronts, a drive-through Christmas light display, and a pajama cocktail party are a few of the ways Paducah celebrates the holidays.
“Yes, we do get all decked out,” said Alyssa Phares, president and CEO of the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The town had to get an earlier-than-usual start to welcome the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Whistlestop Tour visit on Nov. 14. On the tour, the tree destined to decorate the west lawn of the nation’s Capitol is transported 3,000 miles, from the Humboldt-Toiyable National Forest in Nevada to Washington, D.C. In addition to festooning the Paducah Homegrown Farmers’ Market pavilion—where the “People’s Tree” was displayed—downtown merchants, nearby businesses and local homeowners also decorate to complement the street greenery and holiday lighting.
Nearby Noble Park already had transformed into Christmas in the Park, with more than 500,000 lights shaped into different holiday scenes throughout.
“It’s a drive-through light display, so you can pack your kids in the car, put some Christmas music on, roll down the windows and drive through,” Phares said. “People come from all over to this event.”
Horse-drawn carriage rides will be available Dec. 13 and Dec. 20 to give residents a nostalgic way to enjoy the holiday atmosphere in the downtown area and surrounding streets.
“Lower Town, which has many residential homes, tends to go all out for the holiday season as well, so even the residents get in on the festivities,” Phares said. “We also have a gazebo … that gets decorated and glowing. It just feels really homey and comforting and like a place you really want to be during the holidays.”
For more information and a schedule of holiday events, check out paducah.travel.
Shelbyville
To call the city of Shelbyville the “epicenter of Christmas” might be considered hyperbole, but not to Janette Marson, the president and CEO of ShelbyKY Tourism.
“With so many things going on all the time throughout December, it feels truly like the epicenter,” Marson said. “It’s just absolutely magical, and you’d have trouble doing everything in a weekend. You’d have to come back time and time again to pack everything in.”
Many holiday activities are scheduled throughout Shelby County, but the holiday magic can be found simply strolling the streets of downtown Shelbyville.
“Oh, my heaven, the lights, the sounds. There are boutiques, and every one of them will have some sort of a Christmas display in the windows,” Marson said. “It’s like you’ve stepped back in time. It’s absolutely magical.”
In addition to storefront decorations and window displays, lights, banners and greenery bedeck the downtown proper.
“You’ll hear Christmas music,” she said. “You’ll always see lots of people with bags from shopping. You will see the displays in the windows and just the twinkling lights everywhere if you just want to walk.”
For a complete list of activities and events to get into the holiday spirit, see visitshelbyky.com.
Zachary Sinclair
Bardstown
The city of Bardstown puts on such a display for the holidays that visitors describe it as the North Pole of Kentucky.
“We went ahead and trademarked the title so we could use it all the time,” said Stacey Phelps, the president of Visit Bardstown. “It’s so special when you start pulling into our downtown. It’s like a winter wonderland, with all the lights, the greenery—just everything.”
Phelps said the town also has been referred to as a Norman Rockwell painting at Christmastime.
“I mean, that’s exactly what it looks like,” she said. “All of our downtown businesses light up. We have a massive Christmas tree that sits in front of our courthouse right at Court Square. There will be lights at least three blocks down side streets. Everything will be lit up.”
The Bardstown Christmas parade takes to the streets on Dec. 4, with more than 200 floats bedecked in holiday themes.
On Dec. 6-7, visitors can travel less than a mile away to visit My Old Kentucky Home’s Christmas Carnival in the Park for even more holiday festivities, including bounce houses, games, miniature golf and ice skating.
“Pretty much the whole entire park is transformed into a magical wonderland,” Phelps said.
For a complete list of events, visit visitbardstown.com.
Danville
For those wanting to experience that Hallmark movie small-town atmosphere, Danville promises to deliver just that this holiday season.
Danville’s annual Small Town Christmas on Dec. 6 will feature a visit from Santa Claus, vendors, kids’ games, food trucks, live music, a Christmas parade and much more to get everyone in the holiday spirit.
That spirit continues throughout December by walking through downtown Danville and experiencing the holiday ambiance. In addition to the traditional large, decorated evergreen tree in front of the courthouse, there are decorated lampposts and plenty of twinkling lights.
In 2022, the city began purchasing authentic horse-drawn sleighs to display along Main Street.
“Individual businesses and organizations adopt the sleighs and then decorate them, and they serve as a great backdrop for Christmas photos. They just add to the overall festive environment, and it’s a unique thing that Danville does on Main Street,” said Kendall Clinton, the executive director of the Danville-Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We’re now up to 19 sleighs, so you can walk from the entrance to the Centre College campus down to Constitution Square.”
The Square’s historic cabins and buildings are adorned with holiday trappings.
“We light up all of the buildings in Constitution Square, and every one of the cabins and buildings has a candlelight in the window,” Clinton said.
Danville businesses come together and pick a theme for decorating their storefronts. This year’s theme is Christmas movies.
“Some of them do displays inside of their windows. Some of them will have things painted on them,” Clinton said. “We’ve got a gorgeous little downtown on a normal day, so just add all the lights and decorations, and that just makes it all that more attractive for people to come and have a nice Christmas experience.”
For more information, see danvilleky.org.
Gabe Osborne
Stanford
When it comes to the holidays, Stanford (population 3,662) takes a back seat to no one.
“We decorate all of our lamps downtown,” said Mayor Dalton Miller. “We’ve got a giant Christmas tree that we put on the front porch of the Lincoln County Courthouse.”
The annual Christmas parade is set for Dec. 6, and Miller expects it’ll draw its usual large crowds.
In 2022, the show Great American Christmas in Kentucky, featuring actors Jen Lilley and Jesse Hutch, was filmed at the parade, drawing more than 14,000 people to Stanford’s streets.
“You couldn’t move,” Miller said. “I loved it because I go all out for the Christmas parade as the mayor, and I wear some very flashy suits that are Christmas themed.”
It’s common over the years to have parade-goers capture a pic with Miller as The Grinch or in a flashy blue suit with snowmen or bright green with Santa Clauses—nothing holiday-themed is off the table.
“Why not just have fun?” Miller said.
Even when a movie isn’t being filmed, thousands visit Stanford to enjoy the parade and take in the holiday festivities, Miller said.
While the parade is just one day, visitors can experience the city’s small-town Christmas charm anytime during December. In addition to the city lights and decorated trees, downtown merchants do their part and outfit their storefronts to reflect the holiday cheer.
“It’s a joint effort to get it all decorated,” Miller said.
For details about the Christmas parade and other holiday happenings, check out Stanford City Hall’s Facebook page.
Downtown areas aren’t the only locations to enjoy viewing festive lights and décor this time of year. Take a drive through local neighborhoods to get a glimpse at homeowners’ creative displays.
At Kentucky Monthly, we would like to see our readers’ merry-and-brightly decorated homes. This year, we request that you send in high-resolution photos (1 MB or higher) of your holiday home décor—indoors, outdoors or both. Please email the images to editor@kentuckymonthly.com. Next Christmas season, we’ll share them in the magazine.