CHILLICOTHE — Chillicothe has opened its 2026 Holiday Decorating Contest, inviting residents across the city to show off their holiday light displays in a friendly competition run by the Chillicothe Parks and Recreation Department, according to a city announcement reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian.
Entrants can choose among three categories, the city said: one for displays with an especially heavy use of lights and decorations, one for traditional and nostalgic designs, and one highlighting the use of technology in holiday displays. The contest is open to residents citywide.
"Whether your display is overflowing with lights, full of nostalgic charm, or bringing holiday magic to life with technology, there’s a category for you," the city said in its announcement, as reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian.
Entering is simple: residents can email the Parks and Recreation Department with their name, address, chosen category and a photo or video of their display, or call the department at 740-772-5626, according to the department.
The decorating contest is part of the city’s broader holiday season programming. In past years, Chillicothe has also offered a guided Holiday Lights Tour through some of its most decorated neighborhoods, coordinated through the Parks and Recreation and Transit departments, the Scioto Valley Guardian reported.
The three categories are designed so very different kinds of decorators can compete on their own terms. A home wrapped in thousands of lights is judged alongside other maximal displays rather than against a quiet, traditional porch, while the technology category gives the city’s most wired decorators — the ones syncing lights to music and programming their own shows — a lane of their own, the city said in its announcement.
Chillicothe, the Ross County seat, builds much of its December around neighborhood displays, and a citywide contest gives those informal traditions a little structure: an address on file with the Parks and Recreation Department is what turns a decorated home into a stop neighbors and visitors can plan a drive around.
For a city that takes its holiday displays seriously, the contest turns front yards into a shared celebration — and gives neighbors a reason to drive the long way home in December to see what the next street has done.
What happens next: residents are encouraged to watch the city’s Facebook page for submission deadlines and judging details, and to get their entries in as displays go up across Chillicothe in the weeks before Christmas.
Photo: Anthony92931, CC BY-SA