The “City of Brotherly Love,” most commonly known as Philadelphia, has always eagerly began spreading Christmas spirit as soon as the evening of Thanksgiving comes to an end. There is one specific tradition on 1300 Market Street that has been carried on since 1965 though. For the past 49 years, friends, families, and people from all over have gathered in the Macy’s of Center City Philadelphia to watch the annual Christmas light show. On the wall of the Grand Court atrium of Macy’s, a screen of 100,000 bright, energy-efficient LED lights light up into a four-story sequence show of holiday images with a background of seasonal music from the world-famous Wanamaker Grand Organ, and recorded narration of Julie Andrews. The show opens the day after Thanksgiving and can be seen every two hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week until the last day of the year, with the exception of Christmas day.

Going to this light show is something my father did every year with his family when he was young, and now a tradition that he has carried on to our own family. One would think I may grow tired of the show after seeing it seventeen times, but in the words of Julie Andrews, it’s truly a “brilliant Holiday spectacular” that has just grown to hold a special place in my heart over the years. “Attending the show has also become a tradition for my family over the years,” says Mike Zicarrelli, a senior student at Salesianum school. “It’s something that you almost can’t go once to, because it brings joy to all who witness it.”

In my opinion, the 2014 show was just as classic as any other before. Going to see the show is a tradition in itself, but another component that makes it as memorable as it is from year to year is the waiting time. The crowd builds up much faster than one would expect. For someone who would like to watch the show while sitting on the floor of the Grand Court atrium, arriving at least an hour before it begins is a must. This is something that is very popular for families with young children to do, so that they don’t have to stand and wait. For people that don’t mind standing to watch the show, arriving about a half hour or twenty minutes early would be the best suggestion. Whether it may be an hour or twenty minutes though, arriving early and patiently waiting for a period of time is definitely essential to the experience, despite it being a bit tight and uncomfortable.

The show plays every two hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m, beginning with a brief story of The Nutcracker starring the sugar plum fairy’s, followed by images of clocks and snow to holiday music. Another brief story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer comes after the snow, followed by a scene of trains, and the story of Frosty the Snowman. The show ends with everything from the show lighting up the whole screen, along with the “Macy’s Magic Christmas Tree” made up of about six different colors of 34,500 LED lights. “You can’t help but notice everyone take out their phones and cameras to take pictures after the Frosty the Snowman scene,” says Mike. “That’s when you can really tell its a tradition with people, because almost everyone watching knows exactly when the whole screen is about to light up and that they’ll want another picture of it.”
Even though the new year has begun and the 2014 showings have come to an end, 2015 will bring just as great of shows as any year before has. If the Macy’s Christmas Light Show is something you have not seen before, I would strongly recommend gathering your family or a group of friends together and taking a trip down to Philadelphia for the day to see it this coming Christmas season.