Getting the Louisiana Christmas Spirit: How Weather, Traditions, And Music Impact Us

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) - It can be difficult to get into the Christmas spirit. Christmastime in Louisiana can be a little tricky. You never really know what is going to happen with the weather. One day, you may be using a scarf, gloves, or heavy coat and freezing your buns off when you go from the door of your car to your office!

Some Christmas days in the past in Louisiana have been nothing but a hot and muggy mess. You probably remember plenty of Christmas days when you woke up to warnings about fog while driving.

I remember a Christmas in the 80s when things were so cold that snowflakes fell from the sky! Nothing stayed on the ground that year, but it has happened on a few December days since then; never Christmas Day, though.

When Do You Get That Christmas Feeling? We are wondering when, based on the following questions:

Did you start feeling it in November?

Did you start feeling like it was Christmas after Thanksgiving?

Do you start feeling like it's Christmas when you put your tree up?

Did you start feeling like it was Christmas when you see your neighbors and businesses putting up Christmas lights?

Did it start feeling like Christmas with the first cold snap in December?

When we think of Christmas, we think of things like putting up the tree, presents, time with family, singing Christmas carols, lighting the Advent candles at church, and reminiscing about the memories of youth.

The weather can either help or hinder your memories of Christmas. This is how anyone would likely describe our typical weather situation for Christmas on any given year:

It's warm and muggy and nasty for awhile, then we get a cold front that comes in the week before Christmas and we all start eating gumbo and putting on our coats and our gloves, then it starts getting warm again and we are dealing with 82 degrees and hot weather for Christmas Day.

If you look back at the high and low temperatures in the Hub City year by year, you will undoubtedly see a lot of warm days in our history.

So, When Does It Feel Like Christmas In Lafayette?

If we can't count on the weather to help us get into the Christmas spirit then when does it feel like Christmas in Lafayette?

We decided to ask our listeners that question and received some very interesting questions.

When The Christmas Music Starts Playing, People Get Into The Christmas Spirit

Two Christmas musical selections stood out from the listeners.

First, a true classic: "Please Come Home For Christmas."

The Charles Brown version is a classic. It's such a beautiful song and is one of the most iconic Christmas songs.

The other is a Louisiana classic, "Louisiana Christmas Day" by Aaron Neville. It's lively and very Louisiana.

Pollard Christmas Trees Signals Christmas To Many People

The Pollard family and Riversbend Farms in Crossnore, North Carolina, have provided home-grown Fraser fir Christmas trees to Lafayette and the surrounding areas for over 30 years!

Here's a chance to show us your tree for 2024!

Holiday (and Foot) Traffic Makes People Notice It's Christmas

Many people say they don't really get into the Christmas mood until they start to notice all of the visitors and the backup of traffic on all of our major roadways.

Christmas Break - School Vacation Signals The Christmas Mood

When asked the question, "When Does it Feel Like Christmas in Lafayette?" Chris Babin, President of the Acadiana Better Business Bureau, said: "When students get out for their two-week Christmas break."

Seeing The Lights At Acadian Village Helps People Get Into The Christmas Spirit

Each night from now through Monday, December 23, you can go with your family to see half a million lights displayed at Noel Acadian Au Village at Acadian Village. There is always music along with crafts and food for sale. It's also a chance to get that great photo with Santa!

Bernie Dancing While Singing Karaoke?

Our friends at 97.3 The Dawg gave us a very interesting answer when we asked our Christmas question.

I can neither confirm nor deny that this might or might not have happened at the 2024 Christmas party!!!