CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH GEORGIA’S CITIES

Celebrate A Holidays D Georgia’s Cities

It’s time to deck the halls, including city hall.

HOMES AND BUSINESSES REGULARLY GO ALL out for holiday celebrations, and Georgia’s cities are no different. For many cities, holiday planning begins well before winter. Intricate light displays and crowd-drawing events take many hands to execute, including public works and utility employees, community engagement and communications professionals and even mayors and councilmembers.

Georgia’s cities have many holiday traditions. Some are classics like Christmas light displays and pictures with Santa Claus. Others are one of a kind celebrations with unique backstories. Let’s take a closer look at what Georgia’s cities have in store this year.

Moultrie

Moultrie’s main Christmas event happens on Thanksgiving, after the town has stuffed itself at dinner and maybe had time for a nap. “Lights! Lights! Thanksgiving Night!” regularly features live reindeer, pony rides, stilt-walkers, Santa Claus and more than 10,000 lights strung from the top of the downtown courthouse over a nine-block area. To ensure the event goes off without a hitch, Moultrie’s utility workers test every light to make sure the downtown square will be glowing at full brightness. The breathtaking sight is many Moultrie residents’ favorite way to kick off the holiday season, but the event hasn’t just gotten attention in town. Moultrie’s Christmas kickoff has been featured in Southern Living magazine and earned the city the Premier Special Event award from the Georgia Downtown Association this year. Moultrie also won GDA’s 2022 Downtown of the Year award.

The celebration doesn’t stop on Thanksgiving. The intricate light displays remain aglow through the month of December, and there are regular holiday-themed events leading up to Christmas Day. The city works with local partners to put on outdoor movies like “The Santa Clause,” hold a holiday-themed pet adoption event and offer horse rides right in downtown Moultrie.

Kennesaw

Christmas doesn’t get all the fun – this year, Hanukkah is observed during the heart of the Christmas season, Dec. 18 through 26. On the fourth night of Hanukkah, Dec. 21, the city of Kennesaw will hold a menorah-lighting ceremony in partnership with Chabad of Kennesaw, a local Jewish community group. The 21st is also the winter solstice, the “shortest” day of the year because of its few daylight hours.

The menorah lighting in Depot Park will reflect on Hanukkah as a celebration of hope and religious freedom. The holiday honors the Jewish Maccabees’ military victory over Syrian-Greek oppression more than 2,000 years ago and the day’s worth of lamp oil that lasted them eight days in their temple.

Tallapoosa

There is truly nowhere to spend New Year’s Eve quite like Tallapoosa. The West Georgia city is known far and wide for its signature Possum Drop, which marks the start of each new year by ceremonially dropping a taxidermied possum in front of a rapt crowd. The Possum Drop started in the 1990s, and the possum used was found as roadkill by local taxidermist Bud Jones. Over three decades, the Possum Drop has grown from a local celebration to a multi-day event attracting people across Georgia and Alabama.

But why a possum? Before Tallapoosa had its current name, it went by a few others: Pine Grove, Pineville and Possum Snout. The taxidermied marsupial honors the most unique of the city’s former names.

For the 2022 celebration, festivities begin on Dec. 30 with an 80s-themed dance party and costume contest. During the main event on Dec. 31, guests can enjoy music from an Elvis impersonator, an 80s cover band and a Rolling Stones tribute band. There is an early drop for kids at 9 p.m., including fireworks. Families can have a blast in a special Kids’ Zone, which includes rides, games and other attractions. At midnight, the possum will drop and the calendar will turn to a new year.