City of Grapevine
Strings of colorful lights, sculpted ice displays, familiar Christmas music playing through countless speakers — it all transforms Grapevine into the Christmas Capital of Texas each December. The tagline may sound like a catchy way to draw in tourists interested in holiday festivities, but the city has the paperwork to prove it.
With Senate Proclamation No. 556, the Texas Senate recognized Grapevine for providing “one of the most enjoyable experiences of Christmas in Texas.” The declaration, which was issued in 2009, acknowledged the city’s decade of dedication to its Christmas activities — approximately 1,400 distinct events within 40 days every holiday season.
Now, 10 years later, Grapevine still prides itself on not only its array of festive events but also the community spirit it displays year after year.
Despite its glitzy finesse, the organized seasonal series came from humble beginnings. And with time and commitment, Grapevine’s Christmas run has become one of the biggest in the state.
Starting Out
In 1998, the Grapevine Festival and Events department took a big step by hiring its second employee, a longtime volunteer and current Director of Festivals and Events Gayle Hall.
With knowledge of the area thanks to her upbringing and a desire to give back to her hometown, Gayle sought out opportunities to get people excited about downtown Grapevine — even when it meant being a part of the entertainment.
“Our staff would put on these costumes and stand out on the curb and wave at people who went by,” Gayle reflects. “We would walk up and down the streets for photo opportunities; we would walk into the stores and entertain the merchants with their customers.”
By building on what worked — like Grapevine Vintage Railroad’s North Pole Express — the city slowly grew a reputation for holiday fun. Thanks to the distinct vibe of Main Street, both locals and tourists started venturing out of their way to spend more time celebrating Christmas there. Gayle says that’s due to downtown Grapevine’s authentic energy.
“That’s something that we have that so many cities don’t,” Gayle says. “They build their authentic buildings. We have authentic buildings.”
With large entertainment locations like Gaylord Texan Resort and Great Wolf Lodge, and smaller companies and local organizations upping the Christmas ante, it was easy for the city to keep reinvesting in the project.
Every year, the city added just a little more holiday decor or another activity to incentivize families to come out again next year. Soon it wasn’t just locals within driving distance stopping by Grapevine to sightsee. People from across the state came to experience pop-ups like ICE! at Gaylord Texan and Snowland as well as entertaining carolers, carriage rides and elaborate city-spread decorations.
Kevin Brown
Proclaiming It To The State
After curating more than 1,000 annual events, Grapevine staff got into the habit of calling the city the Christmas Capital of Texas. While it was at first just thrown around, Gayle and her team looked into ways to validate all the department’s hard work.
“After years of saying this, we were fortunate enough to meet with and communicate with State Senator Jane Nelson about what would it take for us to get proclaimed as the Christmas Capital of Texas. Because after all, we do all these things,” Gayle says.
State Senator Nelson, from Flower Mound, knew of Grapevine’s Christmastime efforts, so she worked with city officials to bring the position to the Texas Senate floor.
“Christmas is an especially magical time for families to explore all that Grapevine has to offer," State Senator Nelson says.
With persistence and patience, Grapevine city officials were able to see their efforts come to fruition in 2009 — 10 years after first expanding the city’s holiday series. But even a decade after receiving the proclamation, Grapevine hasn’t slowed down.
“The Christmas activities that we promote, support and do ourselves has continued to grow,” Gayle says.
That devotion to improvement has not gone unnoticed.
"In the 10 years that have gone by since I filed the senate proclamation recognizing Grapevine as the Christmas Capital of Texas, I have seen thousands of Texans come to Grapevine to experience the joys of the season — beginning with the parade and lighting of the tree on Main Street, including Gaylord’s ICE!, the train ride with Santa and so many other family-friendly activities,” State Senator Nelson says. “It is an honor to represent Grapevine and its historic buildings and charming shops — which go all out for the holidays.”
Senate Proclamation No. 556 gave the Grapevine Festival and Events department more than a marketing tool. It provided authentication for the years of work it took to build the city’s offerings.
“While this is just a piece of paper,” Gayle says while holding up a copy of the state proclamation, “it has some real meaning to it. It validates something that we continue to grow year after year and try to make it better every single year.”
Kevin Brown
What Continues To Work
Grapevine isn’t the only local city to host holiday amenities like carriage rides, a tree lighting or even a parade of lights, but Director of Marketing and Brand Management Kimberly Foster says keeping the Christmas Capital of Texas spirit alive is less about the physical offerings and has everything to do with the energy of Grapevine and the people who come out every holiday season.
“It’s not going to be crazy laser lights everywhere and those things you may see in bigger cities trying to do more technology-related things,” Kimberly says. “We are just traditional with a warm feeling and welcome vibe.”
Gayle says she loves to see the multi-generational families taking advantage of Grapevine’s Christmas activities. And while some groups might be larger than others — like a group of 40 pajama-matching people Gayle saw hop off the North Pole Express one year — Kimberly says everyone who comes out embodies the energy the city emulates.
“Everyone is just so embracing,” Kimberly says. “You experience that great spirit of community.”
But, at the end of the day, Gayle credits her colleagues, not only in her department but also throughout city government, who help make each Christmas season shine. It doesn’t matter if they are a part of the public safety or parks department, those who buy in and believe in the Christmas Capital of Texas spirit make sure it happens year after year
“Truly this community is different from many because everybody pitches in to help each other and make it work. That also makes it extra special,” Gayle says. “Because when you feel like someone is helping you, then I would hope you intend to give more or do more to try to help each other.”