Have a Colonial Christmas in Williamsburg, Virginia

The Busch Gardens Christmas Celebration runs on select dates through Jan. 3, featuring new village entertainment, 15 coasters and rides, a Gingerbread Scavenger Hunt, festive holiday shopping, sweet culinary offerings, and meeting Santa in his Workshop.

In Colonial Williamsburg, in addition to Grand Illumination, enjoy special holiday events throughout December include caroling at the Courthouse, walking tours highlighting colonial Christmas decorations and the galleries of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, visits with Father Christmas, ice skating at the Liberty Ice Pavilion, the community Christmas Tree lighting with special readings of “The Night Before Christmas,” the Lighting of the Cressets on historic Duke of Gloucester Street with strolling musicians and tidings of good cheer Dec. 17 – 24, holiday feasts and meals, plenty of opportunities to shop for unique colonial gifts such as wreaths, centerpieces, and more. The living history attraction remains open for daily holiday programs with special health protocols in place.

Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area is fully decorated and holidaythemed programming is being presented daily ― mostly outdoors ― through New Year’s Day, along with a range of new exhibitions, seasonal programming and the famous Folk Art Christmas Tree at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, which this year completed a $41.7-million donor-funded expansion.

In Merchants Square, a variety of shopping and dining options await, along with Liberty Ice Pavilion, now open daily on Duke of Gloucester Street. A new Christmas Market opens Fridays through Sundays, Dec. 4-19, at the corner of South Boundary Street and Francis Street, hosted in partnership with the City and CultureFixVA.

Event schedules and admission information is available at colonialwilliamsburg.org/holidays. Details on Colonial Williamsburg Resorts getaways, plus tavern and contemporary dining information are available at colonialwilliamsburghotels.com.

The Busch Gardens Christmas Celebration runs on select dates through Jan. 3, featuring new village entertainment, fifteen coasters and rides, a Gingerbread Scavenger Hunt, festive holiday shopping, sweet culinary offerings, and meeting Santa in his Workshop.

In Yorktown, catch the Yorktown Christmas Tree Lighting, a community tradition that goes back to 1945, on Dec. 4. The Christmas Market on Main Street, Dec. 5-6, features 60 vendors for holiday gift shopping along with holiday music, The Fifes and Drums of Yorktown, festive food and drink, and an appearance by Santa on York County’s first fire truck. On Dec. 6, enjoy Cookies with Santa at the Gallery at York Hall and learn about ancient Norse influences on modern Christmas culture at the Viking Yuletide Celebration at the Watermen’s Museum. Shop for holiday gifts while enjoying chowders, soups, baked goods and other treats at the Mistletoe Market at Riverwalk Landing, Dec. 12, also featuring a live ice carving demonstration and a Toyland Parade. From Dec. 19-31, Christmastide in Virginia at Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown recalls 17th- and 18th-century holiday traditions through special interpretive programs and musical entertainment of the period. At the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, hear accounts of Christmas and winter in military encampments during the American Revolution and glimpse holiday preparations on a Revolution-era farm. A Jamestown Settlement, compare and contrast English Christmas customs of the period with how the season may have been observed in the difficult early years of the Jamestown colony. 

At Berkeley Plantation, enjoy Centuries of Christmas, Dec. 5 – Jan. 1, when the elegant 1726 mansion will be beautifully decorated with fresh greenery from Berkley’s gardens. Highlights include costumed guides sharing four centuries of stories, tours, workshops, teas and other special events.

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Christmas Holidays in Colonial Williamsburg

Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg (photo by Danielle Hendricks)

Colonial Willamsburg takes on a special holiday flare, with handmade decorations lit by cressets throughout the Historic Area, and the scent of hot cider and ginger cakes filling the streets.

Williamsburg began as Middle Plantation, an outpost of Jamestown, in 1633 and served as Virginia’s capital from 1699 to 1780. When you discover Colonial Williamsburg, you become a citizen of the Revolutionary City, engaging with the local community and experiencing firsthand the daily struggles of wartime. Explore the art museums, unleash your kids’ inner colonists, tee off a game of golf, or relax and unwind at the Spa. Stay at one of the official Colonial Williamsburg hotels, with a variety of opportunities to shop and dine.

Among the attractions:

The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, accessible via the Public Hospital of 1773 at 326 Francis St. West, are open to guests with Colonial Williamsburg or Art Museums admission. Seasonal exhibit highlights include perennial favorite dollhouse exhibit “The World Made Small” plus the return of “A Carolina Room Christmas” and the new “German Toys in America.”

Bassett Hall, the local home of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, is decorated for the holidays and open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to guests with Colonial Williamsburg admission.

Information, admission and special program tickets are available at Colonial Williamsburg ticketing locations, online at www.colonialwilliamsburg.com or by calling 855-296-6627 (101 Visitor Center Drive, Williamsburg, VA 23185, 866-987-6322).

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Ticket, Package Options Make it Easy to Include Jamestown, Yorktown in Williamsburg Trip

From a weekend getaway to a week-long vacation, there are many ways to include Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center in a Williamsburg destination itinerary, with a range of ticket and package options available at www.historyisfun.org/Vacation-Packages.htm.

The two living-history museums tell the story of the nation’s beginnings, from the arrival of America’s first permanent English colonists in Virginia in 1607 to the American Revolution and the formation of the new nation. Jamestown Settlement’s expansive permanent exhibition galleries and introductory film chronicle 17th-century Virginia in the context of its Powhatan Indian, English and west central African cultures. Historical interpreters interact with visitors at outdoor re-creations of a Powhatan Indian village, the three ships that sailed from England to Virginia in 1607, and a 1610-14 colonial fort. At the Yorktown Victory Center, a museum of the American Revolution, gallery exhibits and an evocative film portray the Revolutionary era from the perspectives of citizens and soldiers. Outdoors, visitors can explore a re-created Continental Army encampment and 1780s farm.

Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center are included with Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and other attractions in a variety of Williamsburg area best-value ticket options in 2012 featuring unlimited admission for seven consecutive days, free admission for children under 6 and free parking. All are available at www.historyisfun.org/Vacation-Packages.htm and can be packaged with lodging:

The basic History is Fun! combination ticket for Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center, $20 for adults and $10 for ages 6 through 12 and available year-round, is a 20 percent savings over individual admission rates. Purchased online, the ticket is good for seven consecutive days of unlimited admission, while admission tickets purchased on arrival are for one museum visit. History, Shopping and Fun! provides seven consecutive days of admission to the two museums along with a voucher for a Williamsburg Premium Outlets VIP Coupon Book and a Historic Yorktown Rewards Card for shopping and dining discounts.

The Jamestown and Yorktown Four-Site Value ticket, good for seven consecutive days of unlimited admission to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Yorktown Battlefield and Yorktown Victory Center, is $30 for adults, $20 for ages 13-15 and $10 for ages 6-12 and is available year-round.

America’s Historic Triangle, one ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited visits to five historical attractions – Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area and Art Museums, Yorktown Battlefield, and Yorktown Victory Center – is $81 for adults and $35.50 for ages 6-17 and is available year-round. From March 18 through November 4, 2012, the free Historic Triangle Shuttle connects the Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown attractions.

The Williamsburg Flex ticket, available March 24 to October 28 in 2012, provides seven consecutive days of unlimited visits to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area and Art Museums, Yorktown Battlefield, Yorktown Victory Center, and Busch Gardens. Water Country USA is a free added bonus between May 19 and September 3. The Williamsburg Flex ticket is $178.20 for adults, $138.70 for ages 6-17.

Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, until 6 p.m. from June 15 through August 15. The two museums are administered by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, a Virginia state agency accredited by the American Association of Museums. Jamestown Settlement is located on Route 31 South at the Colonial Parkway next to Historic Jamestowne, administered by the National Park Service and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (on behalf of Preservation Virginia). The Yorktown Victory Center is located on Route 1020 in Yorktown near Yorktown Battlefield, administered by the National Park Service. For more information, call (888) 593-4682 toll-free or (757) 253-4838, or visit www.historyisfun.org.

 

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