WETHERSFIELD, Conn. – Although films like “Christmas at Pemberly Manor” and “Romance at Reindeer Lodge” might not be vying for Oscars, they have captured the hearts of many. This winter, numerous fans are enthusiastically visiting the charming locations where these beloved holiday films were shot.
Connecticut, a picturesque backdrop for over 22 festive films by Hallmark and Lifetime, is capitalizing on this trend by offering tours of its idyllic towns — the perfect setting for a holiday romance where a city lawyer rekindles love with a hometown sweetheart who manages a Christmas tree farm. (Spoiler: love triumphs.)
“It’s thrilling to see places from the movies in real life,” shared Abby Rumfelt from Morganton, North Carolina, after disembarking in Wethersfield, a stop on the holiday movie tour.
Rumfelt joined a group of 53, mainly women, on a recent “Hallmark Movie Christmas Tour,” organized by Mayfield Tours from Spartanburg, South Carolina. En route, fans enjoyed the films as they traveled between locations.
Organizing this tour was a breeze for co-owner Debbie Mayfield, thanks to the “Connecticut Christmas Movie Trail” map, introduced by the state to tap into the booming interest in Christmas films.
Debbie, who runs Mayfield Tours with her husband Ken, noted this was their inaugural Christmas tour of film locations across Connecticut and the Northeast. The package, which included hotel stays, meals, tickets, and a visit to the Rockettes in New York City, was a hit, selling out in just two weeks.
With snow flurries in the air and Christmas songs piped from a speaker, the group stopped for lunch at Heirloom Market at Comstock Ferre, where parts of the Hallmark films “Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane” and “Rediscovering Christmas” were filmed.
Once home to America’s oldest seed company, the store is located in a historic district known for its stately 1700s and 1800s buildings. It’s an ideal setting for a holiday movie. Even the local country store has sold T-shirts featuring Hallmark’s crown logo and the phrase “I Live in a Christmas Movie. Wethersfield, CT 06109.”
“People just know about us now,” said Julia Koulouris, who co-owns the market with her husband, Spiros, crediting the movie trail in part. “And you see these things on Instagram and stuff where people are tagging it and posting it.”
Christmas movies are big business — and a big deal to fans
The concept of holiday movies dates back to 1940s, when Hollywood produced classics like “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Christmas in Connecticut,” which was actually shot at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California.
In 2006, five years after the launch of the Hallmark Channel on TV, Hallmark “struck gold” with the romance movie “The Christmas card,” said Joanna Wilson, author of the book “Tis the Season TV: The Encyclopedia of Christmas-Themed Episodes, Specials and Made-for-TV Movies.”
“Hallmark saw those high ratings and then started creating that format and that formula with the tropes and it now has become their dominant formula that they create for their Christmas TV romances,” she said.
The holiday movie industry, estimated to generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year, has expanded beyond Hallmark and Lifetime. Today, a mix of cable and broadcast networks, streaming platforms, and direct-to-video producers release roughly 100 new films annually, Wilson said. The genre has also diversified, with characters from a wider range of racial and ethnic backgrounds as well as LGBTQ+ storylines.
The formula, however, remains the same. And fans still have an appetite for a G-rated love story.
“They want to see people coming together. They want to see these romances. It’s a part of the hope of the season,” she said. “Who doesn’t love love? And it always has a predictable, happy ending.”
Hazel Duncan, 83, of Forest City, North Carolina, said she and her husband of 65 years, Owen, like to watch the movies together year-round because they’re sweet and family-friendly. They also take her back to their early years as a young couple, when life felt simpler.
“We hold hands sometimes,” she said. “It’s kind of sweet. We’ve got two recliners back in a bedroom that’s real small and we’ve got the TV there. And we close the doors off and it’s just our time together in the evening.”
Falling in love again… with a state
Connecticut’s chief marketing officer, Anthony M. Anthony, said the Christmas Movie Trail is part of a multipronged rebranding effort launched in 2023 that promotes the state not just as a tourist destination, but also as a place to work and live.
“So what better way to highlight our communities as a place to call home than them being sets of movies?” he said.
However, there continues to be debate at the state Capitol over whether to eliminate or cap film industry tax credits — which could threaten how many more of these movies will be made locally.
Christina Nieves and her husband of 30 years, Raul, already live in Connecticut and have been tackling the trail “little by little.”
It’s been a chance, she said, to explore new places in the state, like the Bushnell Park Carousel in Hartford, where a scene from “Ghost of Christmas Always” was filmed.
It also inspired Nieves to convince her husband — not quite the movie fan she is — to join her at a tree-lighting and Christmas parade in their hometown of Windsor Locks.
“I said, listen, let me just milk this Hallmark thing as long as I can, OK?” she said.
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