The best holiday traditions in New York State

New Yorkers (and all of America, really) have ushered in the holiday season for nearly a century with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. If you’re not spectating on the street, well, you’re watching it on TV. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving morning without seeing the big Broadway numbers, lip-syncing celebs on floats, orderly marching bands, and yes, those massive balloons of cuteness. Pro tip: if you can’t make it on the big day, you can see them blow up the balloons in Central Park the day before.

Before we gobble, gobble, gobble on Thanksgiving Day, it’s become a holiday tradition in Buffalo, New York, to Turkey Trot. Established in 1896, the 8K race is the oldest continually running public footrace in North America—held even during the 1918 flu pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic, and both World Wars. Other cities have since borrowed the Buffalo tradition, complete with kooky costumes (formal wedding attire and mulleted hockey players are perennial favorites).

If you’ve ever wanted to live inside a Hallmark Christmas movie, enter Corning, New York, one of the best Christmas towns in the United States. It makes complete sense that a town built around glassmaking bedazzles its Main Street in Christmas lights and baubles. Even the cars in the Christmas parade come fully fitted with gleaming lights. Santa entertains kiddos in the town square daily, and during Sparkle weekend—this year is the 50th one to date—vendors and musicians create majorly enchanting vibes. Before the sun goes down and the lights come on, you can gaze at the Corning Museum of Glass’s 14-foot tree made entirely of ornaments and even make a glass ornament of your own!

Like a scene out of Gilmore Girls, carolers serenade this small town’s Main Street every year with holiday songs. Started by Girl Scouts in 1971, the gathering has grown to over 2,000 people spanning multiple blocks. Fill up on hot chocolate and donuts, and don’t forget what Buddy the Elf says: “the best way to spread Christmas cheer is by singing loud for all to hear.”

It’s kind of hard to avoid this New York holiday tradition—what with 14 tons of piney boughs decked 80 feet tall with twinkling lights. The tree lighting at the Rockefeller Ice Rink in New York City is the mother of all tree lightings. The Rockefeller tree is often sourced from upstate New York and draws crowds from around the world, including celebrities who help ring in the holiday season with its legendary lighting ceremony. If you miss the lighting ceremony, you can catch it on TV. But it’s definitely worth braving the crowd to see the year’s massive tree in all her glory.

A special thing about living in New York State is knowing that the North Pole is nearby. No, really. The small town of North Pole, New York, is located just outside Lake Placid and is home to the country’s oldest continuously operating theme park. Attendees can have dinner with Santa during the holiday season and even visit Santa’s reindeer, send mail with the North Pole postmark, and snap a pic with the big man year-round (after all, Santa lives and works there!). Each December, the North Pole turns up the holiday charm even more with its Village of Lights, a nighttime celebration featuring caroling, lots of lights, and the big man himself, of course.

In the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dyker Heights, never once has someone looked at their Christmas display and thought, “Is this too much?” The answer to that question would undoubtedly be “yes,” but that’s why we love it. Each maximalist display seems built to outdo the neighbors. Houses dressed in millions of bulbs, blowups, and plastic figurines draw tour buses and party limos. Others slowly stroll, mouth agape at the sheer amount of effort and electricity powering a few blocks of Clark Griswold-level Christmas lights.

To be a child in the backseat of your grandparents’ car, eyes unblinking as scene after scene of twinkling lights passes slowly out your window… that’s the kind of long-lasting nostalgia the annual light show at the Erie County Fairgrounds brings (speaking from experience). The Festival of Lights is western New York’s largest holiday light show, with more than 70 displays along a drive-through route. This year marks its 20th anniversary. Get out of the car to meet Santa and his animal friends. Explore a European winter market or visit the bar if you’re inclined. And make sure the kiddies ride the Whoville express train and shake it out at the all-new Christmas Tree Comedy Jamboree show.

Yeah, Christmas music is great, but who really needs all those pesky instruments involved? The holly jolly annual TubaChristmas concert puts only low brass in the spotlight (sorry, woodwinds!). The very first TubaChristmas bellowed from the Rockefeller Center ice rink in 1974 with 300 musicians playing arrangements by Rochester-born composer Alec Wilder. The event has since grown into a worldwide festive phenomenon, and New York cities like Rochester and Binghamton wholeheartedly keep the tradition alive.

A tradition for New Yorkers who love to travel in their jammies, the Adirondack Railroad offers a Polar Express train, complete with cookies and cocoa. Santa visits every family during the two-hour trip and gifts them a silver bell from the Polar Express story. The train sells out yearly, which isn’t surprising given it’s one of America's best winter train rides.

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For those of you who enjoy Christmas cheer in the liquid form, this tree lighting is for you. Every year, Genesee Brewery in Rochester, New York, stacks over 500 empty kegs, strung up with 30,000 lights and topped with a rotating brewery sign. The lighting ceremony outside of the attached Genesee Brew House has drawn crowds of 7,000 people who like weird and wonderful Christmas trees and usually features special release beers and food trucks.

Poinsettias may be native to Mexico, but they’re all about Buffalo in December. Year after year, flower fiends step out of the cold Buffalo air into the tropical warmth of the conservatories to wade through thousands of the colorful holiday symbol—did you know there are over 100 varieties? With model trains winding through each display, it’s a different kind of winter wonderland. Santa gets horticultural, too, operating his workshop right inside the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens! You can also experience Poinsettias After Dark, with thousands of twinkling lights illuminating the greenhouses and grounds.

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Tradition to folks in the North Country, the Holiday Village Stroll in Lake Placid encompasses three days of holiday celebration. The weekend includes a skating party at the 1932 Olympic arena, photos with Santa, a free movie showing and a Santa fire truck parade. Costumes are highly encouraged at the 2.5-mile Jingle Bell Run and the Santa Ski, where hundreds of skiers take to Whiteface Mountain in full Santa garb.

Syracuse is home to the family-favorite Lights on the Lake, a dazzling drive-through display along two miles of waterfront in Onondaga Lake State Park. Massive twinkling scenes—think Santa, his elves, and the New York State Fair hot air balloon— light up the night sky, soundtracked by holiday tunes. For those who would rather travel on foot, there’s a 5K that starts at 6am so runners can experience the lights as the sun comes up.

Bedford Falls isn’t a real place, but many speculate that the quaint town featured in It’s A Wonderful Life is actually based on Seneca Falls, NY. The town hosts a three-day festival in December to celebrate that connection. Events include the ringing of all the church bells in town (remember, “every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings”), a 1940s cabaret with swing dancing, a scenic railroad ride and screenings of the iconic film, of course. Cast members also frequently make appearances to discuss their experiences making the movie and to sign autographs.

Step into the days of Christmas and Hanukkah past at the Genesee Country Village & Museum, New York’s largest living history museum. Stroll through the 19th-century village, lit up with candles (and most likely some snow—it is upstate, after all), and the historical “residents” will show you holiday traditions of the past, including festive dances. The museum also hosts special Yuletide dinners you can add on to your tour.

Menorahs come in all shapes (i.e., this dinosaur menorah) and sizes. And we mean really, really big sizes. In New York City, you can find two menorahs duking it out for the biggest menorah title. During the eight days of Hanukkah, Manhattanites head to Central Park near the iconic Plaza Hotel for their menorah lighting. Brooklynites go to Prospect Park. After our investigation, the biggest menorah stands in Manhattan at 36 feet, but both traditions are favorites in our book.

A time-honored New Year’s Day tradition, the Lake George Polar Plunge invites the brave-hearted (or cold-blooded) to tempt its icy waters. Winter temps in this Adirondack town float around freezing to subzero, so participants usually run in and run out. Whether you’re a cold diver or a friend standing by on shore with a warm towel, it’s the most invigorating way to start the year. All proceeds go to the Springfield Shriners Hospital and Lake George Volunteer Fire Department.