Connecticut Turns Film Locations into Holiday Movie Trail, Drawing Fans to Iconic Sets

Fans of Hallmark’s winter romances are finding a new reason to travel as Connecticut turns its picturesque towns into a live‑action movie set, drawing crowds to see where beloved scenes were filmed.

The Holiday Movie Trail

Connecticut, the backdrop for at least 22 holiday films by Hallmark, Lifetime and others, has launched a “Connecticut Christmas Movie Trail” map last year to cash in on the growing Christmas‑movie craze. The trail now invites fans to tour the quaint Christmas‑card cities and towns that have become iconic sets.

A Bus Ride Through Festive Film

Abby Rumfelt of Morganton, North Carolina, stepped off a coach bus in Wethersfield after the first stop on the tour and said, “It’s exciting — just to know that something was in a movie and we actually get to see it visually.” Rumfelt was one of 53 people, mostly women, on a weeklong “Hallmark Movie Christmas Tour” organized by Mayfield Tours from Spartanburg, South Carolina. On the bus, fans watched the matching movies as they rode from stop to stop.

The Tour’s Planning and Highlights

Co‑owner Debbie Mayfield, who runs the company with her husband Ken, explained that this was their first Christmas tour to holiday movie locations in Connecticut and other Northeastern states. The package included hotel accommodations, some meals, tickets, and even a stop to see the Rockettes in New York City. It sold out in two weeks.

The group paused for lunch at Heirloom Market at Comstock Ferre, where parts of the Hallmark films “Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane” and “Rediscovering Christmas” were filmed. The market, once home to America’s oldest seed company, sits in a historic district with stately 1700s and 1800s buildings. The store now sells T‑shirts featuring Hallmark’s crown logo and the phrase “I Live in a Christmas Movie. Wethersfield, CT 06109.” Julia Koulouris, who co‑owns the market with her husband Spiros, said, “People just know about us now.” She added, “And you see these things on Instagram and stuff where people are tagging it and posting it.”

The History of Holiday Movies

The concept of holiday movies dates back to the 1940s, with 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.” Joanna Wilson, author of Tis the Season TV: The Encyclopedia of Christmas‑Themed Episodes, Specials and Made‑for‑TV Movies, said, “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.”

The Industry’s Scale and Diversity

Wilson noted that 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,” she said. “The genre has also diversified, with characters from a wider range of racial and ethnic backgrounds as well as LGBTQ+ storylines.” Despite the diversification, the formula remains the same. “They want to see people coming together. They want to see these romances. It’s a part of the hope of the season,” Wilson added.

Fans Who Live the Stories

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. “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.”

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. The trail 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.

Connecticut’s Marketing Push

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, debate continues 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.

Key Takeaways

• Connecticut’s “Christmas Movie Trail” turns film locations into tourist attractions, drawing fans to see scenes from Hallmark and Lifetime movies.
• The state’s marketing campaign, launched in 2023, uses the trail to showcase Connecticut as a desirable place to live and work.
• While the holiday movie industry remains formulaic, it has diversified and continues to generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

The trail’s popularity shows that even as “Christmas at Pemberly Manor” and “Romance at Reindeer Lodge” may never make it to Oscar night, fans still love the sweet‑yet‑predictable holiday movies and the chance to walk in their favorite scenes. Connecticut’s partnership with travel companies and its own promotional map keeps the magic alive, one snowy stop at a time.