Yule love it! Tennessee’s moon pies voted America’s fifth favorite Christmas tradition

Published 2:15 pm Friday, December 16, 2022

The holidays are coming, and while we may all end up doing something similar on Christmas Day itself — exchanging gifts, toasting the season with eggnog and eating too much food — it’s a fact that around the country, different states have their very own, diverse festive traditions.

Some traditions might be focused on food, some might involve trees, some might be all about lights, or other types of decoration. But which state has the most popular festive tradition of them all? Photo book creation company, Mixbook, decided to find out and polled 1,500 Americans to come up with the definitive answer. And — drum roll please — it’s Ohio, with their delicious Buckeyes candy! Shaped to look like the nut which grows on the state tree, known as the buckeye (which the state is nicknamed after), these tasty treats are essentially like a peanut butter cup — but, of course, soooo much better! You’ll see them at every festive party across Ohio, and these bitesize pieces of candy just melt in the mouth.

The Christmas state tradition which came in second was Texas’s, known for the beautiful River Walk in San Antonio. At Christmas time the area is decorated with over 100,000 lights draped over the cypress trees lining the river, which are illuminated from dusk till dawn. Another of the city’s traditions is watching the caroling boats floating along, filled with groups of singers merrily singing festive songs.

Tennessee’s tradition of making moon pies placed in 5th position. Created in Chattanooga in 1917, the delicious “moon pie” is made by sandwiching a marshmallow cream between graham crackers. While enjoyed all year round by Tennessee locals, this sweet treat is the perfect heartwarming holiday snack.

And if you think weird, how about number 39 on the list — Rhode Island, where the locals on Block Island create a tree made from lobster traps every year! Or the annual Reno Santa Crawl in Nevada, which came in at position 36, where people dress as Santa and go on a massive pub crawl, raising money for charity. We also love the sound of surfing Santas in, where else, California. Making number 8 on the list, athletes enter the contest in Dana Point wearing white beards, red hats and swimsuits, and raise money for Surfers Healing, a surf camp for children with autism.

“For many of us, traditions are an important part of what’s so special about the holiday season. Even though we may celebrate in different ways, spending time with friends and family and creating memories together is what matters most,” said Leslie Albertson, director of marketing of Mixbook.