Christmas Town U.S.A.

A mill town of fewer than 700 people 15 miles west of Charlotte that has hung more than half a million lights every December since 1956, when the McAdenville Men’s Club decorated a few trees around the community center and the idea got out of hand. Over 250 evergreens are lit in red, white and green, more than 100 homes along a 1.3 mile route are decorated by the families who live in them, and floating trees light the lake under the 1883 bell tower, which plays carols each night.

You can drive it or walk it, and it is free. Around 600,000 people come through each December. The season opens with a tree lighting on Dec. 1, when a McAdenville Elementary student flips the switch, and the Yule Log Parade on Dec. 10 has been a town tradition since 1949.

What to expect

• More than half a million lights on 250 evergreens
• Over 100 decorated homes on a 1.3 mile loop
• The lake with floating lit trees and the 1883 bell tower
• Free every night, drive through or walk
• Tree lighting Dec. 1 and Yule Log Parade Dec. 10

Schedule

• Dec. 1, 5:30 p.m. Tree lighting at Dynamo 31, 102 Main St.
• Dec. 10, 5:30 p.m. Yule Log Parade, singing starts at 100 Main St. and Legacy Park
• Nightly 5:30 to 10 p.m. Lights on through Dec. 26; they go off promptly at 10

Plan your visit

Go early in December on a weekday. Weekend nights close to Christmas mean an hour or more in the car line. Eat first in Belmont or at Terra Mia in town, and walk if you can; the sidewalks are open and you hear the chimes.

Good to know

• Enter from I-85 exit 22 (Main Street from Lowell) or exit 26 (Wesleyan Drive from Belmont). Traffic cannot enter from Hickory Grove Road.
• Church Street and Academy Street are closed to cars; the loop is one route and you can drive it either direction.
• Keep moving in the car line and stay on sidewalks on foot; the decorated homes are private residences.