Bet You Didn’t Know

by Abigail Smathers photo courtesy of FacebookThe Origins of Christmas in Davidson the biggest sMall-town you’ ve ever festival seen

In 1988, the Town of Davidson came together over a vision whose legacy would span more than three decades—a vision that would enrich the lives of locals, empower neighborhood merchants, and spread cheer throughout the community.

It started with a simple concept: keeping shops open later for a few nights during the holiday season to accommodate the increase in shoppers’ demands. According to a 1998 issue of the Lake Norman Times, Irene Blackwell, town committee member and founder of The Village Store on Main Street, saw a major opportunity for her hometown to grow. As Davidson’s commercial and economic development were on the rise, Blackwell and her fellow committee members racked their brains to come up with ways that they could capitalize on the impending boom. Thus, Christmas in Davidson was born.

Early iterations of the event ran for 12 days and included activities such as visits from Santa, ugly Christmas sweater contests, and storytime with Mrs. Claus. It snowballed from there, tacking on more festivities and drawing exponentially larger crowds with each passing year. Today, the event has evolved into a community cornerstone, attracting more than 30,000 visitors annually. Naturally, an undertaking of this size requires a great deal of work, so preparations usually begin in August. Christmas in Davidson is staffed by over 1,000 volunteers, many of whom have worked the event for over a decade. The affair is so grandiose, in fact, that businesses’ books can change from red to green in just one weekend.

For its 33rd year, Christmas in Davidson will be returning to its roots with a simpler, more traditional approach. Covid restrictions have limited the scale of this year’s attractions, so the planning team has done its best to incorporate new, socially-distanced attractions, and move existing festivities to the web.

“We knew that we wanted to try to have Christmas in Davidson this year as a way for people to gather safely and for the community to come together,” says Kim Fleming, Economic Development Director for the Town of Davidson. “We wanted to try to return to some sense of normalcy as well as abide by all of the public health guidelines. There are many attractions that we weren’t able to have due to Covid so we had to come up with new attractions this year. They include a light show on the downtown buildings, outdoor movies and s’mores, roving characters, musical performances, local food, and snow.”

Despite drawing large crowds, the event retains its Hallmark atmosphere of small-town neighborly love. Familiar faces spouting warm greetings, mom-and-pop shops aglow with bulbs and ribbons, and main street—the town’s north star—shining bright with its rich history, can’t be rivaled by big-city lights.

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