Holiday Light Displays Around the Snow Globe
December brings Hanukkah on the 25th day of Kislev, Christmas on the 25th, Kwanzaa on the 26th, and many more holidays throughout the month. However, there is one holiday tradition everyone can enjoy all month long: dazzling holiday light displays! Whether you prefer to take in your neighborhood’s holiday lights while walking hand in hand with your kids, or it’s more your style to drive down well-lit streets listening to your favorite holiday hits as your breath fogs up the windows, you can easily find the neighborhood nearest you by browsing our map of holiday light displays around the snow globe.
In addition to finding the neighborhoods decking their halls and homes this month, discover which countries other than the U.S. light up in December, the most outrageous neighborhoods of 2017, and which states spend the most money on staying lit this time of year.
View Holiday Light Displays in a full screen map
Browse the map to see pretty pics of holiday light displays and then read on for the places that are celebrating the most during this wonderful time of year.
Eventful of Holiday Cheer
Much like our piece on Halloween events, which showed where in the world the spooky holiday was celebrated, this holiday light displays map was made in part due to Eventful — the online calendar and events discovery service. From December 1st all the way through the 31st, Eventful notes holiday light displays occurring worldwide. We made an API call to round up all the data and then converted the results into a familiar format: the spreadsheet. This step-by-step guide walks you through exactly how to convert API results and then make a map.
Our map shows that the states with the most holiday cheer are California, Texas, and New York, which isn’t too surprising as these three states have some of the highest populations in the U.S. At the time we checked Eventful, Californians had already planned 65 holiday light-themed events, Texas had 44 spectacularly lit options, and the Empire State had 38 holiday light display events. Unfortunately for residents of North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming, at the time we checked, there weren’t any holiday light events posted. These three states are pretty low population-wise, but even smaller populated states deserve to celebrate. That’s why we also added 2017’s most outrageously lit neighborhoods, so on our map, each of those states have one event going on.
Other Countries That Are Lighting It Up
Many countries other than the U.S. are home to upcoming holiday light displays. While not on this map, countries like the United Kingdom are playing host to 202 light-related activities throughout December. Canada is also bringing their holiday spirit with 65 events, and Australia and New Zealand and holding 36 and 35 light-viewing parties, respectively. Ireland will also be well-lit this season with 23 events occurring, and Malaysia and the Philippines will each have five holiday light events. Germany is also planning on hosting two events, while Finland, France, Hungary, Isle of Man, Singapore, and Spain all have one event taking place this December.
While taking note of which U.S. states and other countries are bringing out the big bulbs is cool, our map contains more than Eventful’s holiday light display results around the world. We also mapped the United States’ most outrageously lit neighborhoods of 2017 and the cost of electricity to keep these neighborhoods in the holiday spirit.
2017’s Best & Brightest Lights
Curious about the absolute best holiday light displays from 2017? Use our map grouping feature to sort the map by “Event.” Then select “2017 Best Neighborhood By State” to see the neighborhoods 24/7 Wall St. identified as the most outrageously lit. Now, we can’t be sure that these winning neighborhoods will continue to deck their halls and homes in the years to come. However, if you happen to live in the vicinity of one of these neighborhoods, you could always stop on by to see if they are continuing with the enjoyable spectacle that is their holiday lights. Keep on reading to discover how to check if one of 2017’s best and brightest neighborhoods is located near you.
How Yule Find The Closest Lights
It’s simple to find out how far — or close! — one of the winning neighborhoods or other 621 holiday light events is to your location. First, filter the map by the type of “Event” you want to check out. If you’re not picky, you can just skip this step. Then type your address into the search bar of the map, and we’ll show you which event is closest to you!
You can even measure the distance in miles or kilometers between where you reside and the closest holiday light display to you. Click on the measuring tape in the top left corner of the map — part of Advanced Mode available with BatchGeo Pro, — and select the option that looks like a mini ruler. Then, drag a line from your location to the nearest event marker to see just how close it is! To toggle back and forth between miles and kilometers, click on the line at the bottom right-hand side of the map.
Oh Electricity, Oh Electricity…
24/7 Wall St. also included each state’s average monthly residential electric bill in their outrageous light displays research. The following ten states or districts have the highest average monthly electricity bills:
- South Carolina — $146.09
- Alabama — $145.55
- Connecticut — $142.19
- Maryland — $141.53
- Hawaii — $138.73
- Washington D.C. — $131.90
- Georgia — $130.87
- Tennessee — $128.89
- Virginia — $127.14
- Texas — $127.10
The average cost of lighting up a home for the holidays each month is $23.33 for incandescent lights and $2.67 for LED lights. So for those holiday light fans in these top electricity-consuming states, using LED lights may help to keep electricity costs down during this time of year.
Now is the time to grab some hot cocoa and wander around your city armed with a map of holiday light displays. You can even make your own map like this one using Eventful and BatchGeo. New Year’s Eve parties, anyone?
