About Us

Concho Christmas Celebration Light Tour attracts thousands of San Angelo residents to the downtown area each year. Additionally, individuals from other locations are attracted to this event. Car count totals show that over 17,855 vehicles drove through the Tour of Lights in 2021. Carrying an estimated 71,420 through the magnificent light display. Of the surveys completed by patrons in December 2021, 27.09% of respondents indicated that they lived in a city other than San Angelo. The survey also reflected that Texas visitors came from Ballinger, Midland, Abilene, Sonora, Eldorado, Lubbock, Odessa, Sterling City, Coleman, Ozona, Brady, and other cities throughout the state of Texas. A smaller number of this same group hailed from outside of Texas.

Since the Concho Christmas Celebration Light Tour aids the San Angelo Destination Marketing Organization (SADMO) in their quest to put “heads in beds”, SADMO has become a valued Concho Christmas Celebration community partner and helps to promote the event.

Along with the SADMO, Concho Christmas Celebration relies on a variety of local partners. With million of lights to hang, electricity to run lights, volunteers to guide vehicles through the Tour of Lights, employees, family, and friends from over 30 companies including the City of San Angelo, West Texas Rehab Center, and First Community Federal Credit Union volunteer their time. In addition, collaboration with various City departments such as Fort Concho, Operations, Parks & Recreation, and Planning and Development is essential. Churches and other non-profit groups like San Angelo REACT, First Christian Church, RSVP, and the San Angelo Bicycle Association chip in to help. Arts and entertainment groups such as San Angelo Community Band, the Twin Mountain Tonesmen, and other local musical groups lend their talents for the event and special activities. Additionally, KCSA Radio and Tradewind Sound, supply technical services.

Concho Christmas Celebration also partners with the San Angelo Police Department, the Tom Green Sheriff’s Office and the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Reserve Officers to provide extra security services for the Tour of Lights and for visitors/volunteers to the Tour.

Concho Christmas Celebration is privileged to have the support of the Concho Valley community. Over eighty businesses and community groups underwrite large greeting cards that are featured along the Tour of Lights. Their participation helps to offset the annual tour expenses that total over $175,000 each year. Initial card design and placement requires a donation of $1,300 wherein the customized card is built based on the sponsors’ unique design. After the first year, there is an annual maintenance sponsorship fee of $1,000.

As the Tour of Lights is visited by many individuals from San Angelo, as well as numerous out-of-town guests, underwriting a greeting card can be a positive way to market a business or organization. Actual car count reveals that over 17,000 vehicles drive through the tour each year carrying an estimated 70,000 guests to view the captivating light display. If you would like to help support Concho Christmas Celebration and participate as an underwriting sponsor of a greeting card, please call 325-944-4444 and we can spread your message of the Christmas Spirit and Joy.

• Concho Christmas Celebration is pleased to announce that Chick-Fil-A is now the Primary Sponsor for the 31st Anniversary of the Concho Christmas Celebration Tour of Lights.
  
  
• Concho Christmas Celebration would also like to announce that H-E-B has renewed its sponsorship as the “CANDY CANE SPONSOR” for 2024.

Concho Christmas Celebration gratefully acknowledges past sponsorships of signature scenes that add so much to the overall Holiday atmosphere of the Tour of Lights:

• James B. and Lois R. Archer Charitable Foundation, the San Angelo Health Foundation, and the San Angelo Area Foundation for their generous support of our signature American Flag Scene found in the Paseo de Santa Angela.
  
  
• San Angelo Health Foundation for their grant funding to expand and complete the Poinsettia display at the San Angelo Visitor’s Center.
  
  
• Special annual sponsorships are acknowledged by the San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council.

Concho Christmas Celebration gratefully acknowledges our underwriters for 2024 which include:

Community Hosts are volunteers from local businesses, non-profits organizations, community groups, and families, who greet visitors driving through the Tour of Lights.  Additional duties of a Community Host include: handing out candy canes, survey cards and pencils, as well as collecting donations (we suggest $5 per vehicle) to help cover the cost of the light display which is approximately $175,000 each year.

Volunteers are needed nightly beginning Friday, December 3rd through Friday, December 31st.  Shifts run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays, and 6 p.m. to Midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.  On Tuesday, December 31st, the Light Tour will be open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.  A minimum of six (6) volunteers are needed per hour and we suggest that the volunteers work in two-hour shifts.

A club or organization will be recognized on an entrance poster, on the website, and in a thank-you ad placed in the San Angelo Standard-Times.  Each individual volunteer will have his or her name entered into a drawing for five (5) - $100 shopping sprees at Sunset Mall. (Each person will have their name entered into the drawing for every hour worked, so the more hours worked adds up to more entries into the drawing.)

To participate as a Community Host, please contact Lucie Hofheins at (325) 944-4444 for more information.

Concho Christmas Celebration graciously acknowledges the
Community Hosts for 2019, which include:

In 1994, a Christmas Lights Walking Tour was presented to the San Angelo community in the El Paseo de Santa Angela area featuring several minor lighted scenes. In 1995 twenty-one sponsor Christmas greeting cards were added. In 1996, the opportunity to expand the event developed with a new and permanent home along River Concho Drive. The tour thus evolved from a walking tour to a driving tour.

In 1997, the Concho Christmas Celebration Opening Ceremony took place at the Bill Aylor Sr. Memorial River Stage. The ceremony featured performances by the San Angelo Community Band and student choirs from the San Angelo Independent School District. The Concho Christmas Light Tour now displayed seven major and twelve minor lighted scenes, twenty-four lighted angels, forty-six lighted decorations, thirty-six sponsor Christmas cards and over two million lights. In 1998, community radio station KCSA-97.1 FM offered holiday music through a community radio station to enhance the experience of those driving through the tour.

The Concho Christmas Committee added new lighted scenes and accessories each year. “The Tunnel of Lights”, one of the most dramatic Concho Christmas attractions, was completed in December 2001. Hirschfeld Steel designed and fabricated the hundred foot-long tunnel which continues to be a major signature feature.

Dubbed “Community Hosts,” business and volunteer groups now became actively engaged in Concho Christmas Celebration. Throughout December, the hosts serve as greeters, passing out candy canes and collecting donations from guests.

2001 featured the first “Lights of Christmas Parade”. To supplement the parade the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony moved from the River Stage to the corner of Chadbourne Street and Concho Avenue in 2004.

By 2006, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was declared complete with the purchase of “Two Turtle Doves, Three French Hens, Nine Ladies Dancing, Eight Maids a Milking and the Twelve Drummers.” Also in 2006, Concho Christmas joined forces with the San Angelo Lizards to offer a non-competitive run through the light display. The event gained popularity and was labeled “Run Rudolph Run.”

Another partnership blossomed as First Christian Church offered a live nativity scene presentation during three weekends in 2007. During that same year, community radio station KCSA 95.7 FM, which had been airing holiday music, expanded into year-round programming (now KCSA 97.1 FM) broadcasting music of the 1950’s as well as community concerts provided by the San Angelo Symphony and the Angelo State University Chorus.

Today, the Concho Christmas Tour of Lights is a 2.5-mile drive along the banks of the Concho River and lit by over three million lights. Visitors remark that lights reflecting on the river appear to duplicate the amazing displays.

Presently, Concho Christmas Celebration has become a cherished tradition with locals and visitors alike.