Beat the holiday blues at Wacky Tacky Christmas Light Tour

The holidays are fun, but they can also be stressful, according to Verna Gates, founder of the nonprofit Fresh Air Family. “They can be very disappointing if you don’t have that perfect Christmas,” Gates said.

“A lot of people get super-depressed,” she said. “They may have lost someone. They may have friends or family far away.”

To prevent that, Fresh Air Family offers a lighthearted holiday event — the annual Wacky Tacky Christmas Light Tour fundraiser, which takes place Dec. 12-14.

The two-hour tour – beginning at Avondale Brewing Company – takes revelers on a guided bus trip to see the best of the worst Christmas displays on houses in Avondale, Crestwood, Forest Park, Homewood and Mountain Brook.

It is “something to let the stress go,” Gates said. “You can ride the bus with us and have a few laughs.”

Buses leave every 20 minutes starting at 5:30 p.m., with the last bus departing at 8 p.m. The tour, which began in 2012, makes about 15 stops. The event raises money to send kids to Gross Out Camp, Fresh Air Family’s summer science camp.

Gates has always liked Christmas schlock. “I’ve loved over-the-top lights since I was a kid,” she said. “Now, I do it with a lot of other people.”

About 1,500 people are expected this year, according to Gates.

“A lot of folks tell me it becomes their Christmas tradition,” she said.

Each year, organizers look for over-the-top Christmas displays, ones with the requisite humor and sheer volume of lights. Popular stops include Hanukkah House in Forest Park, the Singing Christmas Trees in Forest Park and Santa’s Trailer Park in Homewood.

“People ask me if these houses resent being called wacky or tacky,” Gates said. “Hey, if you get up on your roof and put 30,000 lights on it, you have to concede that you are kind of wacky or tacky.”

And some homeowners even lobby to be included, according to Gates.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under who are Fresh Air Family members; they are $30 for adults and $20 for children who are non-members.

For tickets and more information, go to wackytacky.org. 

If you want your house included on the tour, contact Gates at 540-6642 or verna@freshairfamily.org.