McAllen Convention & Visitors Bureau

Last week my wife Joyce and I put up our Christmas decorations. This is a week long task because of the amount of decorations we put up. We think of ourselves as the "Griswalds." it all started about 20 years ago when Joyce's father cleaned up his garage and sent us four strings of outside lights. Now it takes us three or four days to assemble everything in our front yard.

There is something about the Rio Grande Valley that makes us do stuff like this. Christmas is full of lights around here. Last week we talked about the Christmas Posada in McAllen with a lighted parade. That same week end-and for four weeks before Christmas-Hidalgo, our sister city just south of us-celebrates its "festival of lights." The whole city hall complex, including the library and other buildings are lit. The grounds surrounding the buildings are lit. The Pump House, just a few blocks from city hall is lit. And I mean LIT! Every year they tell a story, they have childrens' choirs singing carols, they serve meals, they REALLY celebrate Christmas. This is also the week-end for Dias Festivos, which is a "market" at our Convention Center presented by the local Junior League. Truly unique items are for sale by hundreds of vendors. If you are looking for gifts for people hard to buy for, this is the place.

All of this makes the first week-end in December a truly great time to come to McAllen. For more information about these events or any others, give me a call at 956-682-2871 or email me at jdeuser@mcallencvb.com. Come join us!