Is Taunton the 'best' Christmas city? This list says yes — and here's why
TAUNTON — Did you know that our city is among the best to visit for Christmas in the United States?
If you’re from Taunton, or you’ve ever been to the city’s Lights On Festival, of course you knew that.
But some other outlets have discovered the Christmas City and are making it official.
Trips to Discover has listed Taunton as one of the “21 Best Small Towns to Visit for Christmas in the US.”
We are of course not a small town, but a small city — the article, to be fair, does include “smaller cities” when describing what places made the list.
Although Trips to Discover does not number its list, Taunton is the 14th place they name for the best Christmas spots.
Newport, Rhode Island, famous for its mansions and the Christmas festivities held there, is listed 9th by Trips to Discover.
Trips to Discover says Taunton is also “one of the best places to celebrate Christmas in New England” and, call us biased, but we would have to agree.
The Christmas City was even listed further up than a place named for a holiday icon: Santa Claus, Indiana.
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In its article about the news, FUN 107 wasn’t shocked that Newport made the list — who would be? — but they wrote, “The second local town to make the list may be a bit more surprising.”
It’s not surprising at all if you know Taunton, which FUN 107 discovered as they looked a little more into the history of Lights On.
In fact, Lights On is celebrating its 109th season, with this year’s theme of “Christmas Around the World.”
The 109th Lighting of the Green is taking place, rain or shine, on Saturday, Dec. 3, with the lights going on around 4:30 p.m.
Every year, the city also celebrates Hanukkah, lighting a menorah on the Green. This year, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Sunday, Dec. 18, and ends the evening of Monday, Dec. 26.
Over the more than a century that the Green has been lit, it has been a literal and a metaphorical beacon of light.
It brings the people who come to see it each year a good dose of holiday joy, and in the past it has also served the special purpose of brightening up dark days.
In Dec. 2020, the first holiday season of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was canceled but the lights were still on, centered around the theme of “Home is Where the Heart Is.”
During WWII, the lights were out from 1942 to 1944, due to blackout measures.
In 1944, the Taunton Daily Gazette wrote, “It would be impossible to wish for a 'Merry Christmas' this year but one may hope that every possible comfort, every possible thought be with us all.”
When we had come through the dark days of WWII, the lights were back on.
And they’ve been back on ever since, a reminder that, no matter what that particular year might have brought, the Christmas City was ready to find some light amidst the dark and the cold.
No, it’s not surprising at all that Taunton is one of the best places in the country to celebrate Christmas.
Taunton Daily Gazette/Herald News copy editor and digital producer Kristina Fontes can be reached at kfontes@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette today.
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Trips to Discover names Taunton best small town to visit for Christmas
