Alabama
Alabama ranked No. 3 for states ‘most obsessed with Christmas’: See who beat us
According to a famous holiday song, Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year,” and people in Alabama definitely agree.
Despite the lack of snow in winter, Alabamians have a big love for holiday lights, decorated trees, wrapped gifts, holly-jolly movies and other seasonal traditions. In fact, a recent study ranks Alabama as No. 3 in its list of the “Top 10 Most Christmas-Obsessed States.”
West Virginia took the top spot in the rankings from Chicks Gold, an online gaming marketplace. A team of busy elves from the company used data from Google Trends to determine the rankings, according to a press release. Utah was named No. 2 among states “that take their Christmas cheer to the next level.”
Alabama came in at No. 3 among states that go all out for the holidays, taking a bronze medal from Santa. Chicks Gold touted some of the annual Christmas events in each of the top three states, and pointed to a couple of favorites in Alabama.
The Tinsel Trail is a display of live Christmas trees in downtown Huntsville. It’s free to attend and open throughout the holiday season.(AL.com file photo/Bob Gathany)
“Huntsville, the biggest city in Alabama, annually hosts the Tinsel Trail, where local groups sponsor decorated Christmas trees that are displayed in the local park,” a press release says. “The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum also hosts a North Pole Express every year where families can take a traditional train ride and meet Santa.”
READ: All aboard! Alabama railroads offer families a festive ride to meet Santa
West Virginia got a major thumb’s up from Chicks Gold for its Light the Night festival in Charleston, “which includes rides, Christmas shopping, good food and photos with Santa, as well as an amazing Christmas light display featuring over 2.5 million lights,” the release says.
Utah earned kudos for the “huge light display in Temple Square in the middle of Salt Lake City, as well as carol concerts and guided tours.”
The study tracked how many times people in each state searched for “Christmas decorations,” “Christmas gifts,” “Christmas games” and “Christmas movies,” the release says. Each of the holiday terms was given a weighting to determine the final score. “The data was based on the 5-year trending score from the start of the week in which it was collected (10/13/2019-10/17/2024),” according to the release.
Here’s the full top 10 list, as determined by Chicks Gold:
- West Virginia
- Utah
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Indiana
- Tennessee
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Ohio
Such rankings are created mostly for fun and bragging rights, so let’s not get all Grinchy about Alabama getting bested by two other states. Folks here know that we have Christmas cheer aplenty, with a wealth of holiday lights shows, skating rinks, concerts, parades, Santa visits and more.
READ: 5 Alabama Christmas towns that look like Hallmark movies
Cullman recently earned a spot on Southern Living’s list of cutest Southern Christmas town, thanks to a 40-foot-tall Christmas pyramid that glows with lights during the holiday season. Cullman also has a popular Christmas market in Depot Park that features ice skating, a Ferris wheel, German food vendors, shops, train rides and more.
Brightly glowing lanterns in the shape of animals, dinosaurs and other creatures are on display at “Glow Wild,” a holiday lights show at the Birmingham Zoo.(Mary Colurso | mcolurso@AL.com)
Christmas festivities in Fairhope, Gadsden, Demopolis, Andalusia, Prattville and several other cities are well-known throughout the state. The Birmingham metro area has several glittering holiday lights shows, plus Christmas events throughout the month of December.
READ: Christmas 2024: Best holiday lights shows in the Birmingham area