Newcomers to our desert city often wonder: How will I ever catch the holiday spirit in a place so Scroogishly short of snow, sleigh bells, mitten weather and other common signs of the season?
Ho ho ho! Not to worry.
Those who have savored even a single December in Tucson know we revel in our own one-of-a-kind array of secular and religious holiday traditions.
From the glittering spectacle of the Winterhaven Festival of Lights to the elaborate Mexican Nativity set of El Nacimiento, our celebrations of the season come with a Southwestern spin.
See the cover story inside this section for a guide to the music, dance, decorations, food and expressions of faith that enliven and enrich our holidays in the Old Pueblo. — Doug Kreutz
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Tucsonans know better than to expect a white Christmas, but that doesn't stop residents from getting downright festive.
Around here, we decorate local evergreens — cacti — with twinkling lights (see box for tips) and line walkways and top walls with bright luminarias.
While light-bulb-lit plastic or ceramic luminarias are available in stores. More common are the homemade versions, brown paper bags weighted with sand and illuminated by a candle.
According to literature at the Tumacácori National Historical Park, the legend of the luminarias began on the night Christ was born when the shepherds who traveled to visit him lit bonfires along the road so that others might follow the path to the manger.
Luminarias first appeared in Spain around the 16th century as roadside bonfires guiding people to midnight Mass on the final night of Las Posadas.
European missionaries brought the tradition to Mexico and what would later become the American Southwest, where it became something people did in front of their own homes. It wasn't until the early 20th century that the bonfires became the luminarias — also called farolitas — that we know today.
While luminarias still have a religious significance to many — some local churches, such as St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church, still decorate their property with them come Christmastime — to others they have become a secular decoration akin to holiday lights. They are the inspiration for several annual local and regional holiday events.
• A half-million lights and luminarias will twinkle at Holiday Nights at Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The park's 10th annual event will include holiday cookies, hot cider, music and pictures with Frosty the Snowman, as well as an ornament sale and silent auction. $8; $5 for members; children age 12 and younger are $2, 742-6455.
• "Luminarias have been a regional tradition in the Southwest for a long time, so this is a great way to embrace our regional traditions at a Tucson treasure," said Tana Jones, director of communications at Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way, which will host the 21st annual Luminaria Nights 5:30-8 p.m. Dec. 7-9. The event will include more than 2,000 luminarias, cider, hot chocolate, holiday music, a miniature railway and visits with Santa. $8; $6 for members; $3 for children ages 4-12, 326-9686.
• Tubac's streets will be lined with tens of thousands of luminarias in the village's 23rd annual Luminaria Nights — Fiesta de Navidad, 5-9 p.m. Dec. 7-8. Highlights include free refreshments in 100 galleries, shops and artists' studios, holiday music, caroling and visits with Santa Claus. On Dec. 7, Tubac Presidio State Historic Park will host a free Victorian Christmas show at the 1885 Schoolhouse from 5-8 p.m., 398-2704.
While many individual households have decorated yards, some local neighborhoods have made luminarias a tradition. Tucsonan Beverly Jutry told the Star earlier this year that members of Indian Ridge neighborhood, near Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde roads, all get into the spirit at Christmastime.
"Every single person, from the agnostics to the Jews to the Buddhists, put luminarias on their lawns," she said. "On Christmas Eve, the whole neighborhood glows."
— Sarah Mauet
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