Every holiday season, year after year, The Regions Center in Birmingham brings festive cheer to The Magic City on a grand scale. 

The tower’s light display marks the beginning of the holiday season for many Birmingham residents, as many have grown up witnessing the impressive display since childhood. The 30-story tower annually features designs of Christmas trees, a giant wreath, and a huge stocking that illuminates the building’s glass “curtain wall.”

You don’t have to be downtown to enjoy the festive lights; the display can be seen for miles, including on Red Mountain, and you can even catch a glimpse while landing at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.

In a new spin on the tradition, Regions hosted a lighting ceremony at the base of the tower the day after Thanksgiving. Bank executives in attendance had the honor of “flipping the switch” for the display.

“Every year since the 1970s, this building has celebrated the season in a way that’s become a Birmingham tradition, and Regions Bank is proud to keep that tradition alive,” says Deno Posey, executive vice president of Enterprise Operations for Regions. “There’s a lot of work that goes into this and a lot of testing to make sure all the right lights and all the right colors are in place. Teams comb through the building with grids showing which colors are needed in which windows. Then, they place ‘gel sleeves’ on the lights above each window that’s part of the designs.”

The magic behind the display lies in the building’s windows and lights. Special lighting equipment and color-coordinated window coverings turn the office building’s dark windows into pixels of a larger image. This grid-like display creates a “low-tech yet high-impact” pixel art effect, which locals have come to expect and enjoy year after year.

Their hard work pays off in a beautiful display of lights and a sense of holiday nostalgia for the Magic City. 

Greg Gammill, vice president of Critical Facilities at Regions Bank, explains the process of preparing for the holiday tradition that captivates thousands. “After the Christmas trees, wreath, and stocking designs are put back in place, we illuminate the building a few times in the early morning hours during the fall to ensure we’ll be ready for the night after Thanksgiving, which is always the first night of the display,” said Gammill. “Most recently, we’ve seen social media posts where people capture an image of those tests and declare that it’s almost the holiday season. Now that the season is here, we’ll keep watch on the display and ensure it shines bright every night.”

“This tower is more than a key element of the city’s skyline; it has also brought the community together through meaningful displays over the years,” notes Christian White, a Birmingham market executive for Regions Bank. “With the return of the Christmas trees, the wreath, and the stocking tonight, we extend our best wishes to our headquarters city for a joyful holiday season.”

According to Regions, the tower will remain illuminated every night until New Year’s Day.

Crews reassemble the display each year because the same lights are used in the spring to illuminate a giant golfer on the sides of the building in celebration of the annual Regions Tradition golf tournament. For that design, different colors of gel sleeves are wrapped around the lights to create the image of the athlete teeing off. The red and green sleeves from the Christmas display are stored until later in the year, when the holiday images return.

The light display remains one of Birmingham’s most heartwarming and nostalgic Christmas traditions that the Magic City hopes to enjoy for years to come.