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| McAdenville Christmas Lights © Katrena |
McAdenville, a small town in Gaston County, illuminates nearly the entire town for others to enjoy through self-guided riding or walking tours in December. This beautiful light show, featuring over 375 trees adorned with more than 450,000 red, green, and white lights along a 2-mile stretch near exit 22 on I-85 offers visitors a free Christmas light show each evening from December 1 through December 26 each year. Visitors can enjoy the lights between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and between 5:30 and 11:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
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| Christmas Town USA in Gaston County NC © Katrena |
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| Free Christmas Light Show in McAdenville NC © Katrena |
Wait times are generally longer on weekends, but this can be a fun time to listen to Christmas music on the radio and share Christmas memories. Those who wish to walk through town may park in one of three locations for free:
- Behind McAdenville Baptist Church
- Behind the Village Restaurant on Main Street
- Parking lot beside the lake
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| Christmas Lights in North Carolina © Katrena |
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| Christmas Lights Near Charlotte NC © Katrena |
We took exit #27 going south on I-85 and came in from that direction on a busy weekend night. In hindsight, I would have stayed in the left lane on US 29-74 and turned left at the Burger King and simply walked through the town from there.
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| McAdenville Christmas Lights at the Lake © Katrena |
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| Enjoy Christmas Lights and Music in McAdenville |
The McAdenville light tradition began in 1956 when nine trees were lit at the suggestion of the McAdenville Men's Club and the December Christmas light show has grown throughout the years. The McAdenville Christmas trees range from six to ninety feet with each tree displaying between 500 and 5,000 red, white, and green lights to celebrate the traditional colors of the Christmas season.
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| See Houses Decorated with Christmas Lights © Katrena |
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| Free Christmas Activities in Gaston County NC © Katrena |
Preparations for the annual Christmas light show in McAdenville begin in August, and each year the winner of the McAdenville Elementary School contest gets the honor of turning the switch to kick off the light show on December 1.
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| Christmas Town USA in North Carolina |
In addition to the lights, visitors can also see over 200 wreaths, a manger scene, Santa and reindeer, Old Man Winter, life-sized carolers, and an illuminated fountain at the lake. Riders may wish to open windows to hear the recorded music at the caroler display. Christmas carols also ring from the Pharr Family YMCA and the McAdenville Baptist Church.
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| Christmas Hayride in McAdenville with Santa © Katrena |
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| Town with Tons of Christmas Lights © Katrena |
The town has decided to add a Christmas Town Festival with entertainment slated for the first three Saturdays in December starting in 2011. Town residents also add to the quaint Christmas light show by decorating their doors and porches, and the atmosphere is bright and festive as McAdenville transforms itself into Christmas Town USA for the first 26 days of December each year. We saw several hayrides going through with Santa entertaining the crowd in back.
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| McAdenville Christmas Light Show in North Carolina © Katrena |
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| Fun Family Activities for Christmas Break © Katrena |
I have enjoyed driving through McAdenville to see this wonderful free Christmas light display several times, and each time has been such a treat for the adults and kids. What is particularly nice about this display is that it represents a cumulative effort of an entire town. See more information about McAdenville or Christmas Town USA at their
official web site.
Readers may wish to learn about other fun
family-friendly events in North Carolina as well!
The Merry CHRISTmas sign on top of one of the houses has a very special meaning and exemplifies the what McAdenville is all about. CHRIST is the reason for the season.
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