The story below is a preview from our November/December 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Slow down and savor the season with local holiday sights, sounds, tastes, touches and scents that awaken all five senses.
Courtesy of Explore Park
The immersive magic of Illuminights is the very definition of seasonal wide-eyed-wonder.
The holidays are nearly upon us, and for many, they’ll whiz by in a disorienting tangle of tinsel and lights. A solid 10 months of anticipation is suddenly a mere speck in our rear view mirror. How does this happen? A practice I turn to often when life starts moving at warp speed is: savoring. And nothing helps me to savor, or be fully present, quite like taking moments to stop, breathe deeply and tune into my five senses.
I guess you could call it a form of mindfulness. I just know that I’d rather not be a disheveled participant in rote traditions — my mind, always racing to the next thing on the schedule. Instead, I long to immerse myself fully into each experience with eyes (and ears and hands, etc.) wide open.
I hope some of the following local activities might inspire you to slow down and soak in the next several weeks with freshly awakened senses — helping you to arrive at the first of January with a heart full of rich memories and a soul that feels centered and at peace.
Sight
Ana Morales
Fashions for Evergreens at Hotel Roanoke showcases the imaginations and talent of area businesses and organizations. The public can also cast votes for their favorites to benefit charity.
This time of year is a veritable feast for the eyes!
For those who like to take in the sights via a casual stroll, I’d recommend Fashions for Evergreens at the Hotel Roanoke where dozens of area businesses sponsor and decorate elaborately themed trees to line the halls of the grand old lady. It is a display sure to delight both the young and the young at heart. Give yourself time to linger and really take in the intricacy of each thoughtful design!
If you’d like a slightly more mobile “sight” activity, I love the tradition of the Old Southwest Holiday Parlor Tour. Gracious hosts open their doors to the public who are greeted by an effusion of candlelight, generational collections, glitter and bows transforming these already stunning abodes into yuletide showstoppers. It’s almost sensory overload. But in the best kind of way.
Take the mobility level up a notch, and you’ll find the Annual Holiday Lights Tour, led in a community effort by PedalSafe ROA, Ride Solutions and Cardinal Bicycle. The gentle, family-friendly bike ride covers a four-mile route looping through one of the most festive neighborhoods in the city. An extra dose of fun comes in the form of participants donning their tackiest holiday attire for the ride (think: Ugly Sweater Party on Wheels)!
Sound
What is more universally recognizable than the first strains of beloved Christmas carols?
Area performances abound, and one of my favorites is typically held the Sunday following Thanksgiving, making it the perfect opportunity to usher in the season. Lessons and Carols, a concert given by the Roanoke College Choir, is held in the acoustically immersive sanctuary of St. Andrew’s Catholic Church.
Another classic is Handel’s Messiah. Whether you choose to participate in a sing-along experience, or allow yourself to take flight on the soaring melodies as a rapt member of the audience, Messiah is a centuries-old pillar of the season for so many around the world.
Bringing together a blend of old and new for the whole family is the perennial favorite: RSO’s Holiday Pops Concert — held at the Salem Civic Center. It taps into the perfect melange of joy and nostalgia that lives in our collective hearts this time of year!
Taste
Want to learn how to savor the holiday season by fully immersing your senses in local Roanoke sights and sounds, creating richer memories and a more peaceful state of mind? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!
The story above is a preview from our November/December 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!