The December 2025 Issue

Sparkling streets, local traditions, and the cozy charm of a city wrapped in holiday wonder — Asheville offers merriment for every age of visitor.

From cedar waxwings to great purple hairstreaks, North Carolina’s “tree thief” nourishes a surprising community of wildlife.

For nearly 90 years, Winston-Salem’s IFB Solutions has been a beacon of opportunity for individuals who are blind or have low vision.

The magic sprinkled throughout one Asheville writer’s novels helped her through a harsh reality and into surreal success.

At the end of another year of travels, our adventurer reflects on what roots him to North Carolina.

In busy workshops and bright stores, our state’s toymakers and purveyors keep wonder alive. Dolls, trains, and games remind us: The joy of play never grows old.

Among dazzling lanterns, silk creatures, and twinkling lights at the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival, one little boy leads his parents straight to the heart of the holidays.

The holiday season is aglow across the state.

While the snow-capped Appalachian mountains and the oyster beds along our coast are worlds away, come Christmas, they’re united by the Atlantic’s annual gift.

Traditional recipes for oyster stew are often little more than fresh oysters in hot milk. This one gets an upgrade from bacon, vegetables, and seasoning. A handful of bacon-wrapped crackers on the side doesn’t hurt either.

Whether it’s secret Santa or the company cookie swap, sweet gatherings get everyone into the Christmas spirit.

Loaded with chopped pecans and candied fruit, these soft and chewy cookies deliver fruitcake flavors in a fraction of the time.

If you love peanut butter blossoms, try these pint-sized cookies that double down on peanut butter in both the cookie dough and candy-filled centers.

For fans of the store-bought oatmeal cookies passed around church fellowship halls, our homemade version is tender-soft and topped with an easy-as-pie vanilla glaze.

A writer fulfills a childhood fascination with the cosmos by venturing to Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute to glimpse the universe and make a wish.

At St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, the season begins not with shopping or songs, but with the clang of chains and the rise of an iron wreath.

Once left to the weeds, a world-class holly collection in Pinehurst is thriving again, thanks to the determination of those who believe in a second season.

In a Chatham County barn filled with music and light, a choir director’s Christmas concert becomes a love song to the mother who helped him develop his gift.

In Wilkesboro, an annual gingerbread house festival raises funds — and hope — for the Wilkes Literacy Foundation.

For more than 200 years, villagers in the Outer Banks community have celebrated Christmas on their own terms.

More than 50 years after the last residents of Portsmouth Island moved away, a descendant of the once-busy shipping village decks the halls in their honor.

Before the beard and belly laugh, becoming the Man in Red requires a little magic — and plenty of training — in Charlotte, where Santas go to earn their ho-ho-ho.

Born on Christmas Day, the founder of the Saint Nicholas Christmas Foundation makes a list and checks it twice so that everyone’s stocking is stuffed for the season.

One of Avery County’s oldest tree farms extends its evergreen branches to those who fight for our freedom — a sacrifice its founder understood well.

Across North Carolina, familiar landmarks shine a little brighter when they slip into their holiday finery.

Ahoy, Santa! Annual boat processions during the holiday season transform North Carolina’s waterways into shimmering winter wonderlands.