TUSCUMBIA-An annual Christmas festival in Tuscumbia has been named one of the top events in the Southeast for celebrating the holiday season.
It’s a Dickens Christmas Y’all Festival, hosted by Tuscumbia Retail Development, was named one of the Top 20 Events in December by the Atlanta-based Southeast Tourism Society. The festival adds a Southern twist to the Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol”. It includes a Dickens Feast complete with characters from “A Christmas Carol”, 5K and 1-mile runs, breakfast with Santa Claus, milk and cookies with Tiny Tim, music and arts and crafts along Main Street, carolers, dancers, carriage rides and other family-friendly activities.
May Woodie Christopher, president of Tuscumbia Retail Development, is elated with the honor for the festival.
“We are so excited. We think it is terrific,” Christopher said. “It’s a fun event and we add to it every year to keep it fun and exciting.”
Christopher said the honor will help increase awareness of It’s a Dickens Christmas Y’all throughout the Southeast and bring more visitors to the Shoals for the festival.
She said the festival is a boon for the Tuscumbia economy.
“Several of our downtown merchants tell us that Dickens Christmas is their busiest weekend among all of the festivals all year,” Christopher said. “That’s what we like to hear. We want to increase business in the downtown area and bring visitors to our town.”
Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau nominated the festival for consideration as a Top 20 event.
“We are so pleased to have this event receive the Top 20 designation, said Susann Hamlin, President/CEO of Colbert County Tourism. STS is well known throughout the southeast and the United States and this award has much meaning to a potential visitor.”
Many travelers plan their schedules to accommodate Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 events.
“The Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Festival and Event list is an excellent guide for the Southeast’s visitors and residents. Events selected represent the best, and often most unique, activities in our region,” said Bill Hardman, president and CEO of the Southeast Tourism Society.
Events considered for the STS Top 20 recognition must be at least three years old and have attendance of at least 1,000.
Southeast Tourism Society promotes tourism to and within 12 states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
