Holiday Hoopla Across America

Enjoying the holidays with your grandchildren is already special. If you look, nearly every city and town has a trademark event to heighten the excitement. Venturing out to one in your own neighborhood — or theirs — is always fun and easy.

To inspire you, here are a few of the nation’s more amazing holiday season spectacles. If you live nearby, be sure not to miss them. Or use this list to pick somewhere new to visit over the holidays. If you can’t make it this year, consider giving your grandchild a gift “ticket” redeemable next year for travel to one of these events together.

New York City

Radio City Christmas Spectacular
At least once in a lifetime everyone should see this extravaganza, now in its 75th year. Excitement grows as high as the Rockettes can kick when Santa flies and fireworks light up the stage. The show features the famed synchronized chorus line dancing on the block-wide stage as snow falls and music rings out from the largest Wurlitzer organ ever built (it has more than 4,000 pipes). Nov. 9-Dec. 30, 2007

Del Mar, Calif.

Holiday of Lights at Del Mar
Begun in 1995, this is the largest animated drive-through light show on the West Coast. More than 350 moving displays are organized into themes — Candy Cane Lane, Toyland, The 12 Days of Christmas — and positioned throughout the Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego. Visitors hear festive holiday music as they drive a 1.5-mile route, viewing the exhibits Southern California-style from the comfort of their vehicles. Nov. 22-Jan. 1, 2008

Chicago, Ill.

Christkindlmarket Chicago
Inspired by Nurnberg’s market that dates back to 1545, this new kid on the block has been an annual affair since 1996. Many consider it the most authentic holiday market outside of Germany, and it attracts more than 1 million people each year to Daley Plaza. Vendors in more than 50 huts topped with red-and-white striped awnings offer classic German foods — sausages, potato pancakes, hot spiced wine — plus ornaments, toys, and handcrafts galore. Local mom Nicole Bock says, “I love to see and hear the children’s choirs singing in front of the beautiful tree at the market. It gets everyone in the holiday spirit.” Nov. 22-Dec. 24, 2007

The Pink Pig
Introduced in 1953 at Rich's Department Store, the original Pink Pig ride was a child-scaled monorail that circled atop the toy department. The lead car had a pink pig head and the end car featured a curly pink tail. The ride eventually moved to the store's rooftop, and when Rich's closed in the early 1990s, it was retired to the Atlanta History Center. Shortly after the ride's 50th anniversary in 2003, Macy's introduced an updated Pink Pig train that now runs underneath a large pink tent each holiday season at Lexon Square Mall in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood. The original monorail train is still displayed at the museum. Nov.3-Jan.1, 2008

San Francisco, Calif.

Nutcracker
The San Francisco Ballet has presented the Nutcracker annually since 1944, when it blazed the path for all subsequent U.S. Nutcrackers by dancing the very first full-length production. A new version is introduced every ten to 15 years, most recently in 2004. It is always an extravagant interpretation, with costly scenery and elaborate handmade costumes. Each performance features a cast of more than 175 comprised of the company’s dancers plus children from the Ballet School. Marcy Black, mother of three, says, “When my kids were little we took them to the Nutcracker in San Francisco and it was pure magic.” Dec. 13-30, 2007

Near Albuquerque, N.M.

Luminarias celebration
For this unique, spiritual holiday tradition, the Acoma people place luminarias (candle votives in brown paper bags weighted by sand) throughout Acoma Pueblo. More than 5,000 luminarias line nine miles of roads through the reservation. The absence of electric lights in the Acoma Valley makes the sight even more brilliant. The custom of setting out luminarias, also known as farolitas, came to New Mexico from Mexico, where small bonfires are traditionally lit outside homes on Christmas Eve to light the way to midnight mass. Dec. 23-26, 2007

Philadelphia, Pa.

Mummers Parade
This Mardi Gras-like parade has rambled down Broad Street every New Year’s Day for 107 years. In a tradition that harkens back to 400 B.C. and the Roman Festival of Saturnalias, adults and kids alike don elaborate costumes made with feathers and sequins and have themselves a good old time. Local clubs work on their flamboyant costumes and practice their struts and twirls all year. Tim Magenta, 15 year-old lead drummer for the 75-year-old Polish American String Band club, says, “Being a part of the club is a family tradition. My favorite part of the parade is marching with my grandfather, father and brother.” Jan. 1, 2008