In the News
For decades, the lights along the Concho River have attracted visitors and the attention of writers, broadcasters and travel publications from San Angelo and across Texas.
Making Headlines for All the Right Reasons
From Texas travel features to stories in our hometown newspaper, Concho Christmas Celebration has earned recognition as one of San Angelo’s signature annual events. Here are some of the stories that have helped share the magic of Christmas on the Concho.
Christmas on the Concho Across Texas
San Angelo Bucket List: Annual Must-Attend Events
The Tour of Lights was highlighted among San Angelo’s must-attend annual events, recognizing the miles of illuminated displays along the Concho River and the many Christmas activities surrounding the celebration.
Christmas Festivals in Texas
The Daytripper featured Christmas on the Concho among Texas holiday destinations, highlighting the Tour of Lights, giant Christmas cards, holiday scenes and millions of lights along the river.
Reasons to Love San Angelo: Christmas on the Concho
Jen Killin-Guadarrama • September 26, 2017
The feature celebrated the annual light display along the Concho River along with the community tree lighting, live nativity, parade, Run Rudolph Run and other Christmas traditions.
The Lights Fantastic
By Jordan Breal
Texas Monthly selected Concho Christmas Celebration for a feature on five memorable holiday light trails.
The magazine highlighted the two-and-a-half-mile trail along the Concho River, the Tunnel of Lights, colorful displays, illuminated poinsettias and oversized Christmas greeting cards lining the route.
Christmas Tradition Shines On
Rick Smith took readers along for a nighttime drive through one of San Angelo’s best-loved Christmas traditions, beginning with cheerful volunteers greeting visitors at the entrance and continuing beneath the bridges toward the glow of millions of lights.
The story describes the experience of passing through the Tunnel of Lights, traveling beside the illuminated Twelve Days of Christmas displays, seeing enormous Christmas cards from local businesses and watching the lights reflect across the Concho River.
From families bundled into vehicles to walkers, horse-drawn buggies and children taking in the displays, the article captured something that statistics cannot: the feeling of experiencing the Tour of Lights on a cold December night.
Looking for Lights on a Dark, Wintry Night
In another memorable column, Rick Smith experienced the Tour of Lights from an entirely different perspective — as one of the volunteers greeting visitors at the entrance.
Working alongside fellow church members, he helped welcome vehicle after vehicle as families arrived to see the lights. Some visitors donated generously, some quietly admitted they could not afford a donation, and others paid extra for the vehicle behind them.
What began as concern about spending a cold evening outside became a story about generosity, volunteers, excited children and strangers exchanging countless “Merry Christmases” before heading toward the bright lights along the river.
Still Shining
The stories may span different years, writers and publications, but they share the same theme: each December, the Concho River becomes a place where San Angelo gathers, visitors discover our community and Christmas memories are made.