Richmond is often seen as a refined city—historic architecture, cobblestone streets, leisurely Sunday brunches, and tasteful holiday decorations in the downtown district. Even at Christmastime, parts of historic downtown maintain an elegant, understated festive spirit, as shown by the small, tasteful tree below.
But that polished image doesn’t tell the whole story. This time of year, many neighborhoods around Richmond proudly embrace a more flamboyant, over-the-top aesthetic. That unabashed extravagance is embodied by the city’s famous (and occasionally infamous) Tacky Light Tour.
The Tacky Light Tour is a curated list of local homes whose holiday displays are deliberately excessive. To even make the list, a house typically needs a minimum of 40,000 lights. To put that in perspective, most light strands contain only a few dozen or a hundred bulbs—so reaching tens of thousands of lights requires a serious commitment to spectacle.
Richmond’s penchant for gaudy holiday displays has attracted national media attention. The phenomenon has been featured on television and covered by national outlets; one particularly extravagant house even topped USA Today’s list of “10 Great Places to Plug Into the Christmas Spirit,” placed ahead of more famous displays like New York City’s Rockefeller Center tree.
Each year the tour draws large crowds. Groups rent buses and limousines to take in the lights in comfort—or to combine the outing with festive libations. Regardless of how visitors arrive, the experience is the same: squint against the glare, enjoy the buzzing colors, and revel in the joyful excess of Richmond’s holiday glow.