Experience 40+ Ohio Holiday Classics

Family traditions sit at the heart of the holiday season, and when it comes to making new memories with your loved ones, Ohio is filled with classic destinations and experiences that shine brightly as the days inch ever shorter and the nights grow colder. From the elaborate holiday displays at Akron’s iconic Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens to the millions of bulbs that make up the Legendary Lights of Clifton Mill, Ohio is aglow in holiday spirit that you can explore at these more than 40 destinations, experiences and events.

Enchanting Estate
Each year, Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron invites visitors to experience the holidays as the Seiberling family did when they lived here.

Every year since 1996, Akron’s 70-acre Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens has decorated the former estate of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. co-founder F.A Seiberling with 1.5 million lights for its annual Deck the Hall event. The holiday-season happening invites visitors to tour the grounds, see 20 decorated rooms of the Manor House, visit the conservatory and take part in holiday activities. 

For many years, the decorations inside the manor house followed a central theme. But when the curatorial team met in February, they opted for an approach last seen in 2023, when each of the decorated rooms had an individual theme.

“We’re letting the Manor House speak for itself,” says Tom McKenzie, tour services manager at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens. “The rooms will be like small vignettes.”

There are depictions of a snowman’s birthday party, “The Nutcracker” and a Lego-brick-inspired room, McKenzie says. Stan Hywet enlisted seven professional decorators, including florists and interior designers, as well as nine groups of estate staff and volunteers, to transform the 20 rooms on the first and second floors of the four-floor Manor House. An unveiling is set for Nov. 29. (Deck the Hall runs on select dates through Dec. 30.)

McKenzie says the Music Room and the central Great Hall are two must-see spaces. While the 2,700-square-foot Music Room will be decorated in Christmas hues, the centerpiece is a vintage Seiberling Rubber Co. (Seiberling founded the company after leaving Goodyear in 1921) advertisement featuring Santa Claus. The Great Hall, a space with cathedral-like ceilings that the Seiberlings used as a family room, will feature traditional decor.  

“As cheesy as it might sound, you can step back in time to when the Seiberling family lived here and imagine that might be what Christmas Eve or Christmas night looked like for them,” McKenzie says.

While the estate and gardens are lit up each year, the dazzling decor and the enchanting atmosphere of the Manor House is easy to get swept up in. Christmas was a big deal for the Seiberlings, and they would often invite dozens of family members to the house for the festivities. That aspect of togetherness is at the core of Deck the Hall for Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens president and executive director Jennifer Highfield.

“We’re a home. And we want it to still feel like a vibrant home,” she says. “We want people to feel that because that’s what the holidays are about, being with loved ones and friends and family.”

714 N. Portage Path, Akron 44303, 330/836-5533, stanhywet.org

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A Presidential Christmas
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum’s holiday events step into history. 

Being home for the holidays takes on new meaning during the Hayes Home Holidays tours offered at Fremont’s Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums Dec. 20 and 21. The theme for this year’s tours of the former president’s home focuses on Christmastime furloughs for Civil War soldiers. Hayes was a Union Army officer from 1861 to 1865 before becoming our nation’s 19th president in 1877.

The tours are part of the site’s A Presidential Christmas, a series of events that start Nov. 29 and run through the end of the year. They include a large holiday-themed model train display, trackless train rides through the 25-acre estate and horse-drawn sleigh rides. 

For Hayes Home Holidays, trained Civil War reenactors will be stationed throughout the house, sharing stories about what life was like in the war camps and how they celebrated Christmas if they weren’t given furlough. Guests will be served wassail — a Victorian-era hot spiced cider — and a surprise treat. 

“During our brainstorming sessions earlier this year, we pulled in the reenactors to talk about what we can do to make this realistic and interesting and new for the guests,” says Josh Dubbert, a historian at the library and museum. “It’s a magical experience to be led through the house by these professionally trained people who are able to contextualize the era and give you this feeling of stepping back in time.”

Tickets required for some events; Spiegel Grove, Fremont 43420, 419/332-2081, rbhayes.org

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Holiday Homes
These historic properties embrace the season by decorating in colorful and unique ways.

Reeves Victorian Home & Carriage House Museum (above) | Dover 
Industrialist Jeremiah Reeves bought this Queen Anne style home in 1898, and it stayed in his family for years before it was passed to the Dover Historical Society in the 1970s. From Nov. 13 through Dec. 30, take a guided tour of the 17-room home (offered Wednesday through Sunday) to see it decorated for the holidays. doverhistory.org

Arms Family Museum | Youngstown
Olive and Wilford P. Arms were ahead of their time when they built this Arts and Crafts-style mansion in 1905, equipping the home with running water, electricity and gas. Since 2007, Memories of Christmas Past (Nov. 16 through Dec. 31) has offered self-guided, holiday-season tours of the mansion’s decorated rooms. mahoninghistory.org

Victorian House Museum | Millersburg
Get in the holiday spirit by taking in the Elegance of Christmas Past at the Victorian House Museum in Millersburg, Nov. 16  through 31. This home will be transformed for the holidays, and visitors can tour at their own leisure, after picking up information at the front desk about the home’s history and notable features. holmeshistory.com/museum

Hower House Museum | Akron
This Second Empire Italianate mansion (built in 1871) was home to Akron industrialist John Henry Hower. Today, it is part of the University of Akron campus. From Nov. 7 to Dec. 29, the house is decorated in the theme “A Magnificent Menagerie: Creatures Great and Small,” with visitors invited to embark on self-guided tours Thursday through Sunday. uakron.edu/howerhousemuseum

Belmont County Victorian Mansion Museum | Barnesville
This Romanesque Revival mansion was built between 1888 and 1893 by John and Sarah Bradfield. Their daughter, Pearl, owned the home before the Belmont County Historical Society bought it in the 1960s. From Nov. 1 through Dec. 22, the home’s 26 rooms will be decorated for “The Magic of Christmas Mansion Tours.” belmontcountymuseum.com

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Gallipolis in Lights
A community effort became a local tradition along the Ohio River.  

G allipolis in Lights, a festive, 5-acre light display along the banks of the Ohio River, embodies the plot of a feel-good Christmas movie come to life. After a night spent looking at holiday lights in neighboring towns, Gallipolis teacher Shari Rocchi and her family were driving by their darkened city park when she began imagining it lit up for the season. She got home, put out a call on social media and spent the next year raising money from local businesses to pay for it all. 

“When we first started, we had a couple businesses in Gallipolis give us $100 each, and they challenged all the other local businesses to do the same,” she says. “Now, so many businesses take a lot of pride in what we do. They call me to give $500 or $1,000 for the lights.”

Since 2013, the lights have become an annual tradition with a lighting ceremony taking place the night before Thanksgiving with live music, free hot chocolate and cookies, actual reindeer and a fireworks show. The work starts in October when an all-volunteer team of about 20 organize and begin work. Rocchi has a front-row seat to all of it. Her balcony overlooks the park, letting her take in the joy she helped spread.

“I can look out and see the hustle and bustle, the joy and families and unity,” she says. “It makes my heart very full when people talk about how much pride it has brought to our town.”

334 Second Ave., Gallipolis 45361, 740/709-1677, facebook.com/gallipolisinlights

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Illuminating History
The beginnings of Clifton Mill stretch back to 1802, but for decades now, the landmark has been a focal point for holiday wonder and whimsy.  

L ike any good Christmas project, the Legendary Lights of Clifton Mill snowballed into something much grander than its humble beginnings. In 1987, Anthony Satariano Jr.’s family purchased the water-powered grist mill, which has origins dating to 1802, and quickly hatched a plan to decorate the site with about 100,000 Christmas lights. 

“My family, my father in particular, was extremely into the holidays,” Satariano says. “My parents went out of their way when I was growing up with Christmas. We own this beautiful, historic, charming piece of property; let’s decorate it.”

While the family bought the site to continue operating it as a working mill, the light show began to draw passersby enchanted by the lights adorning the bright red mill. (“We had an ‘Aha!’ moment, and it just became a thing,” Satariano says.)

The mill also features a country store gift shop and restaurant, and its surroundings are decked out with almost 5 million lights every year from the day after Thanksgiving through Dec. 30. While setup starts in late September, Satariano says there is a lot more work involved compared to when the tradition started. 

“I have pages and pages of notes,” he says. “But most of the plans and ideas are in my head.”

The lights have spread beyond just the mill. Red lights cascade along the gorge the mill sits above, and across the Little Miami River, the ground is blanketed in lights, including a swath of white lights that appear to carve through the red, cascading down toward the river, mirroring the actual waterfall on the other side of the ravine.

A visit also includes the chance to explore the miniaturized Christmas village and the mill’s Santa museum with more than 3,000 vintage Santas. Every 30 minutes, the lights across the property go dark and Satariano or another member of the Clifton Mill staff flips a switch to start a short, synchronized light show set to music.

New for this year, Satariano is adding a synchronized scene near the covered bridge (which is, naturally, covered in thousands of lights) depicting a pair of grazing deer that then bound off into the night to kick off each light show.  

“We keep adding things year after year, and that’s why we keep doing it,” says Satariano, whose father, Anthony Satariano Sr., passed away in 2008. “It’s my father’s legacy, and we like the idea that we are part of other families’ Christmas traditions.”

75 Water St., Clifton 45316, 937/767-5501, cliftonmill.com

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Zoo Lights
These destinations go wild with their elaborate and enchanting displays.

Wild Winter Lights | Cleveland
Visitors in vehicles and on foot can experience the glow of over 1.5 million lights in the shapes of animals, larger-than-life Christmas bulbs and more at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (Nov. 14 through Dec. 30). Inside, guests can also see Santa’s workshop, enjoy ice-carving demonstrations and model train displays, and purchase hot cocoa and a treat from Jack Frost Donuts. clevelandmetroparks.com/zoo

PNC Festival of Lights | Cincinnati
See your favorite animals in a new light this season at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Nov. 21 through Jan. 5), where 4 million lights dazzle in the form of 30 lighted displays, an animated light show over Swan Lake and 50 giant animal lanterns. that bear likeness of famous residents like Fiona the hippo. Visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus and check out the Madcap Puppet show. cincinnatizoo.org

Lights Before Christmas (above) | Toledo
From over 200 illuminated animal displays to two different animated light shows, the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium’s Lights Before Christmas (Nov. 22 through Dec. 31) has been brightening the holiday season in the Glass City since 1986. Walk among the lights, check out the Winter Village for hot cocoa and roasted s’mores, and pay a visit to the live reindeer in the barn. Be sure to take a trip down the ice slide set up on the slope of the zoo’s historic amphitheater. toledozoo.org

Wildlights 2024 | Columbus
This time of year, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is known for Wildlights (Nov. 22 through Jan. 5), its Christmas display featuring 3 million dazzling lights and seasonal family festivities. Take a ride on the train or a spin on the carousel, and then snap a photo with Santa, as well as Rudolph and his friends. Visitors can keep an eye out for indoor animals after dark, including sea otters and manatees. columbuszoo.org

Wild Lights | Akron
The Akron Zoo’s Wild Lights (Nov. 29 through Dec. 30) is getting an update for the 2024 holiday season. Guests will be treated to fresh light displays in new colors and patterns synched up to holiday music. Throughout the zoo, visitors can spy active animals, such as the snow leopard and red panda, and visit with both Santa Claus and The Grinch while enjoying s’mores and hot cocoa. akronzoo.org

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Holidays at the Taft 
This historic home turned art museum offers a look at Christmases past.

Unwrapping the layered history of the Taft Museum of Art is like peeling away the wrapping paper on an anticipated Christmas present. The house it occupies was built around 1820 for Cincinnati businessman Martin Baum before real estate speculator and winemaker Nicholas Longworth bought it in 1830. 

Years later, the house was home to David Sinton and his daughter Anna, who later lived there with her husband Charles Phelps Taft. In 1908, Taft’s half-brother William Howard Taft accepted the Republican nomination for president standing in front of the home’s portico. 

Charles and Anna Taft were art collectors and bequeathed their home and collection, which includes works from artists such as Thomas Gainsborough and Rembrandt van Rijn, to the people of Cincinnati in 1927. The home opened as the Taft Museum of Art in 1932.  

“The house is the story of the people who lived here,” says Ellen Roberts, director of curatorial affairs at the Taft Museum of Art.

Holidays at the Taft is one of those stories. From Nov. 13 through Jan. 6, 2025, the museum gets festive with era-appropriate decorations, holiday displays, art activities for kids, a gift store for shopping and more. 

For the “Holiday Traditions Old & New” exinstallation, the staff sets up the dining room to look like it might have more than 100 years ago when the Taft’s hosted New Year’s Day tea. The museum also hosts holiday tea experiences every Friday and Saturday from Nov. 29 through Dec. 21, where attendees enjoy local teas, house-made desserts and sandwiches.

“The holidays are the time when you can really lean into the fact that this is a house where people used to live that is decorated with these amazing masterpieces of art,” Roberts says.

316 Pike St., Cincinnati 45202, 513/241-0343, taftmuseum.org

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Timeless Traditions
Dayton’s A Carillon Christmas illuminates one of the city’s most famous landmarks and celebrates the holidays with a hearty dose of history. 

It’s hard to miss Carillon Historical Park’s towering Deeds Carillon any time of the year. But for each holiday season since 2015, the 151-foot-tall bell tower built in 1940 becomes an illuminated beacon as it is transformed into the 200-foot-tall conical Tree of Light. 

“One of the amazing things about the carillon is that the very first concert played on it was Christmas Eve 1941,” says Brady Kress, president and CEO at Dayton History, which owns and operates Carillon Historical Park. “The limestone on the carillon kind of glows under the strands of lights. It’s just really amazing.”

Transforming the Deeds Carillon into the Tree of Light was something Kress dreamed of since returning to his hometown in 2003 to lead Dayton History. After debuting the attraction in 2015, the park went all in on the holly jolly, introducing A Carillon Christmas, which runs Nov. 26 through Dec. 30 this year. The event is held on the 65-acre Carillon Historical Society campus, home to museum exhibits that share the scope of Dayton’s tradition of innovation.

Evening activities include visits with Santa Claus and a puppet show interpretation of The Tailor Gloucester, a children’s Christmas book published in 1903, a few months before Dayton’s own Wright brothers took flight Dec. 17 of that year in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. (“We tie those two stories together,” Kress says.) 

Inside the 1815-built William Morris house, the Morris & Hetzel Bakery offers traditional gingerbread cookies and roasted chestnuts. 

“You hear about roasting chestnuts your entire life,” Kress says. “This is an opportunity to experience what they taste like.”

The park is lit up for the holidays, with Christmas lights in trees and other fixtures along the walking paths. The new Carillon Park Railroad, a full-size train with two open-air passenger cars, ferries guests along a 1-mile loop around the park. 

“Christmas is the only time we run the train at night,” Kress says. “The park really does take on a whole different persona at nighttime during the holidays.”

1000 Carillon Blvd., Dayton 45409, 937/293-2841, daytonhistory.org

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Christmas Classics
From Ralphie to Scrooge, these inspired destinations bring magic to the season. 

Castle Noel | Medina
Christmas lasts much longer than a day at Castle Noel in Medina, where Mark Klaus has created a nostalgia wonderland that is open 11 months of the year. Step into an immersive world featuring New York City holiday department store windows, props and wardrobe from favorite holiday movies and the chance to ride down a giant red slide like Ralphie did in “A Christmas Story.” New in 2024, guests can sing along with an animatronic Rudolph and see the Gingerbread Theatre Show. castlenoel.com

House from A Christmas Story (above) | Cleveland
Take a guided tour of the Cleveland home featured in the classic 1983 holiday film “A Christmas Story” restored to its on-screen appearance. Knowledgeable and entertaining guides share filming anecdotes and insight while leaving plenty of time for photo ops throughout the home and the backyard where Ralphie nearly shot his eye out. Across the street, a museum has exhibits with movie artifacts such as one of the Red Ryder BB Guns used during production. housefromachristmasstory.com

Dickens Victorian Village | Cambridge 
Step into 19th-century England in downtown Cambridge as the city’s annual Christmas display returns Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. More than 95 vignettes featuring 169 mannequins depict the holiday season during the time of A Christmas Carol author Charles Dickens. Once the sun sets, the Guernsey County Courthouse comes alive with a musical light show that repeats throughout the evening. dickensvictorianvillage.com

Holiday Junction Featuring the Duke Energy Holiday Trains | Cincinnati
Since 2011, the Duke Energy Trains have been the centerpiece of Holiday Junction at the Cincinnati Museum Center (Nov. 9 through Jan. 6.). Housed in a historic train station, the museum is the perfect home for these displays, including Lionel trains from the 1930s and 1960s. The largest display features 300 railcars and 50 locomotives, all of which roll throughout a decorated holiday landscape. cincymuseum.org

Yuletide Village | Waynesville
Want a Christmas landscape that feels as if it’s been plucked from another world? Waynesville’s Yuletide Village delivers (Fridays and Saturdays, Nov. 29 through Dec. 21). Following the Ohio Renaissance Festival each fall, this immersive holiday experience delivers enchantment with Santa’s workshop in the center of the village, Christmas carolers and live music. Krampus also roams the alleys. yuletidevillage.com

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Save The Date: 24 Ohio Holiday Events: Downtown light displays, classic holiday performances, pop-up markets and glowing gardens are all part of the fun this season. 

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