By Katelyn Norris
Paxton Media Group
Bardstown continues to be recognized on a national scale, recently being honored as HGTV’s favorite Christmas Town in Kentucky. HGTV named Bardstown alongside cities such as Santa Claus, Ind., and Gatlinburg, Tenn.
Christmas in Bardstown grows every holiday season, with new events popping up each year in December and annual favorites growing larger. The TV network recognized the annual Bardstown Kiwanis Club Christmas Parade and My Old Kentucky Home’s Merry and Bright and a production of “A Christmas Carol.”
“… Bardstown’s Christmas spirit is second to none in the Bluegrass State,” the article reads. “In December, the town becomes ‘The North Pole of Kentucky,’ while adding a touch of Southern hospitality to its holiday celebrations during its annual Christmas parade, where beautifully decorated floats make their way through streets decked out in twinkling lights.”
Bardstown Main Street’s Light Up Bardstown kicksoff holiday season, bringing hundreds of locals and tourists to start the Christmas season. (Photo provided)
Kim Huston, president of Nelson County Economic Development Agency (NCEDA), said when Bardstown Main Street’s Light Up Bardstown started 12 years ago, the ultimate goal was to build it to something incredible. She said she always wanted the town to be named Christmas Town and get recognized for all the hard work across the community everyone creates during the holiday season.
“Never in our wildest dreams would we have thought we would be Christmas Town so quickly,” Huston said. “I mean, we sat here at meetings, amongst all the NCEDA partners and said we want to be Christmas Town. That is our ultimate goal. Knowing that that was a hefty goal and never thought that we would actually make that.”
For Bardstown Main Street Director Randi Mouser, she said being named Christmas Town is not only great recognition for how the community comes together for the holiday, but it will bring more people to the town in the future.
She said she has always thought of Bardstown as the classic Hallmark Christmas movie town, and with the eyes of HGTV watching, she said this feels like a blessing to have a great audience see the town.
“We’ve always been known for so many other things, but for it to be Christmas, where it’s a family tradition,” Mouser said. “People start with their (traditions) from year after year, they come and see Christmas lights. For them to want to come to Bardstown and stay here. … It’s also great for our downtown because it brings people to see our shops and want to eat in a restaurant. So overall, it’s something that people want to come and do, maybe for the whole day.”
Steve Stivers, owner of Making Good Scentz and a member of the Bardstown Main Street Christmas Committee, said this honor continues to show how many members of the community come together to make the holiday season possible.
“I feel like we’re only gonna get better as we grow,” he said. “It did not surprise me at all. A lot of times when I’m out putting Christmas decorations up, people stopped me and say, ‘Oh, do you feel like you’re living at a Hallmark town?’ and that’s exactly what I feel like.”
With this year’s Bardstown Christmas Parade, organizer Wilma Sorrell said having Bardstown named Christmas Town continued to prove the parade is the best in the state. She already hears visitors from across Kentucky come to see the festivities, but she continues to see more visitors from out of state coming to the parade.
With Bardstown being on a national scale with HGTV, she said she hopes it brings more people to the city.
“I think that we’ve grown this parade to be something special,” she said. “It’s no surprise to me that it’s to the top echelon in the state. … It’s such a proud moment to know that the work that is put in and my team puts in makes a difference. We’re not going to do anything unless it is the best of the best.”
Jeremy Riggs, My Old Kentucky Home State Park manager, said there are dreams of expanding the park’s current Christmas offerings, especially with after the recent HGTV call-out.
Moving forward for him, Riggs said dreaming of bigger and more celebrations within the park and the community is something everyone needs to come together on.
This was a sentiment that Mouser and Huston echoed, with Mouser adding that to grow events such as Light Up Bardstown or the Christmas Parade, sponsorships, donations and volunteers will go a long way to bringing it to new heights.
“It’s time now to take it to the next level,” Huston said. “We’re hoping that corporations, businesses, residents, anyone that would like to donate toward more Christmas decorations and lights to take it on to the next level. We would love to talk to you about your participation and being a sponsor.”
However, Mouser said it’s not about donations and sponsorship but joining in on continuing to make Bardstown the best Christmastime it can be.
This story was first shared by Kentucky Today.
