5 Star Stories: Holly Jolly Holidays in Oxford

OXFORD, Miss. (WMC) - Oxford, Mississippi, has been called ESPN’s “Best College Town” and the “Cultural Mecca of the South.” But, this time of year, Oxford becomes “Holly-er” and “Jolly-er” for the holidays, and you are invited!

In this week’s 5 Star Story, we’re taking a trip down the Peppermint Trail for a seasonal celebration!

Oxford captures the magic of the holidays by transforming the historic town square into a winter wonderland decked out in a canopy of sparkling lights, lit this year by the Jolly Old Elf, himself — Santa Claus!

“Our square takes Christmas to the next level. Our city’s really dedicated to Christmas memories,” explained Kinney Ferris, executive director of Visit Oxford.

Kinney Farris, executive director of Visit Oxford — Kinney Farris, executive director of Visit Oxford(Action News 5)

According to her, the town’s Holly Jolly Holidays started about four years ago and grew out of COVID-19.

“We could only do things outside and we wanted to do something a little special for our community. We knew people couldn’t really travel here at the time, so we did our first Holly Jolly Holidays actually on the square. It was a much smaller operation during COVID,” Ferris said.

Now, the town’s holiday celebrations include a 4,000-square-foot ice rink in the old Armory Pavillion on University Avenue that requires a special engineer, Miguel Contreras who comes all the way from Mexico and specializes in making ice in warm climates.

“First we have our chiller, and we send liquid glycol inside hoses for making ice. When the glycol goes down to minus 10 temperature, Celsius, and when we spray water over the hoses, and making ice is very easy, only like this,” Contreras chuckled while explaining how the ice forms.

2023 Holly Jolly Holidays event in Oxford, Mississippi — 2023 Holly Jolly Holidays event in Oxford, Mississippi(Action News 5)

And this year, for the first time, Holly Jolly Holiday guests are encouraged to traverse a red and white Peppermint Trail by following decals placed in front of local restaurants and businesses.

According to Ferris, “You can go all around town and get tasty treats that have peppermint themes or you can go and shops that might have red and white apparel or a special peppermint gift for your loved ones.”

The whole idea behind “Holly Jolly Holidays” is to turn Oxford into a holiday destination for families of all kinds.

“I know that it’s really great to make these traditions and these family memories, but we want grandparents to bring grandkids. We want aunts and uncles. No one is excluded. We want everyone to come and make those special lasting holiday memories,” expressed Ferris.

Visitor Beth Allen found herself doing just that, enjoying the small-town charm that transformed into holiday fun.

“I definitely love the Holly Jolly Holidays here in Oxford. I’m able to take my son, he can hang out with his friends and it just gives a great vibe to the environment that we have here. It brings the love, the spirit of Christmas, it’s just wonderful,” she described.

Beth Allen, Oxford resident — Beth Allen, Oxford resident(Action News 5)

You can experience Oxford’s Holly Jolly Holidays yourself through January 7.

Santa has also made several other visits to the ice skating rink for photos and wish lists, with his last visit before Christmas happening this weekend on Saturday, December 16.

For more information on that, as well as pricing and the list of Peppermint Trail businesses, click on this link,

Click here to sign up for our newsletter!

Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.

Copyright 2023 WMC. All rights reserved.