46th Annual Nantucket Noel 2019 of Winter Nights & Holiday Lights Underway Nov 29-Jan 1

Nantucket Island’s month-long (November 29, 2019 to January 1, 2020) Nantucket Noel is a venerable tradition.

Nantucket Island’s month-long (November 29, 2019 to January 1, 2020) Nantucket Noel is a venerable tradition. With the influx of visitors and return of islanders with homes here for the holidays, Island population swells along with the intense feeling that something very special is about to happen. And, to be sure, Nantucket Noel and its dazzling Christmas Stroll Weekend remind us of every reason why Christmas season is so special to us all.

This year’s theme is Winter Nights & Holiday Nights — a reminder that, on Nantucket, the winter holidays commence with the Tree Lighting and continue for 33 days through The New Nantucket New Year’s Event and The Nantucket Hotel’s Anchor Drop on New Year’s Eve.

Nantucket Noel’s magic begins on Friday, November 29, 2019 with the annual Tree Lighting & Community Caroling Ceremony at the top of Main Street (which will be closed to vehicular traffic). Islanders, visitors and others convene in holiday spirit, gleefully anticipating the Town Crier’s countdown to the illumination of more than 150 balsam holiday trees. After the balsam trees are ablaze with light, rounds of traditional holiday carols spontaneously break out in song with the remarkably colorful and energy-efficient LED lights in the background. Caroling is led by Nantucket High School’s renowned a cappella group Accidentals & Naturals.

Nantucket Noel 2019’s festivities — including the incomparable signature event Christmas Stroll Weekend (December 6-8, 2019) — commence first at dusk on November 29 with the annual Tree Lighting & Community Caroling Ceremony presented by Stop & Shop. This much anticipated tradition features more than 150 majestically attired balsam Christmas trees lining the side perimeters of cobblestoned Main Street and adjoining byways. The 46^th Annual Christmas Stroll Weekend (December 6-8, 2019), presented by The Steamship Authority, is the following weekend.

“The Steamship Authority is pleased to again sponsor the Nantucket Christmas Stroll Weekend” said Kimberlee McHugh, Steamship Authority’s Director of Marketing. “We look forward to transporting many visitors to and from Nantucket during the festivities. If you haven’t already done so, please book your ferry reservations online at www.SteamshipAuthority.com or call 508-477-8600. On behalf of all of us at the Steamship Authority, we wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.”

Christmas Stroll Weekend is truly an inspiring event comprising the ultimate holiday imaginings of every child, teenager and adult! Every nuance of Christmas past, present and future is rolled into one weekend here on Nantucket. Nantucket presents the Christmas of everyone’s dreams for all to experience and participate in year after year.

On Saturday, December 7, everyone awaits the arrival of Santa Claus himself! Promptly at 11:45AM, when Nantucket’s Town Crier, in full regalia, will ring in the 46^th Annual Christmas Stroll Weekend presented by The Steamship Authority. The Crier then leads the procession to Straight Wharf to meet Santa, who arrives via Coast Guard cutter. Santa — held aloft on his nautical sleigh (minus the reindeer, of course!) — will greet his enthusiastic fans before riding to the Discovery Room at the NHA Whaling Museum on Broad Street to meet with the hopeful children who will regale Santa with their ‘wish lists.’

After Santa Claus’ departure to the Discovery Room at the NHA Whaling Museum, a full day of holiday activities and events including strolling Victorian carolers, bell ringers, local talent of every description, Main Street’s Magical Talking Tree, the Christmas Marketplace, styled after the authentic holiday markets of Europe, and other traditional holiday activities will be on offered for every member of the family! Grown-ups are as enthusiastic as the little ones about Nantucket Noel events and, especially, Christmas Stroll Weekend.

“From Downtown Nantucket across the entire Island, there is a feeling of anticipation as the Christmas holidays unfold. Commencing with the Tree Lighting and continuing through Stroll Weekend and Nantucket New Years, the joy and tradition are amazing,” said David Martin, President & CEO of Nantucket Chamber.

“Nantucket evolves into a living ‘snow globe,’ evocative of every wondrous emotion and memory of Christmas holidays past and present. Holiday bells, the twinkle of holiday ornaments on trees and Christmas carols complete the spell. Nantucket presents the Christmas of a lifetime, every year, with its Nantucket Noel, Christmas Stroll and Nantucket New Years,” Martin continued.

To encourage shopping local for the holiday season and promote the sustainability of Island commerce, the Chamber continues its popular Holiday Red Ticket Program, with participating Chamber member businesses giving out one red ticket for every $25 purchase.  The program commences on November 1^st, with merchants dispensing one red tickets for every $25 spent. On Double Red Ticket Days, December 14^th, merchants will dispense two red tickets for every $25 spent.  At 3pm on December 24^th, five lucky winners of $1,000, one luck winner of $5,000, and one extra-lucky winner of a surprise prize valued at $1,000 will be chosen at random from the multitude of tickets filling the enormous bed of a Don Allen Ford truck parked outside the Pacific National Bank at the head of Main Street. A list of participating merchants can be found at www.nantucketredtickets.com.

The month of December draws to a close with the new Nantucket New Years on December 31, 2019. More details to follow on this day full of events. In 2018, Nantucket Hotel hosted a Countdown to 2019 at its first-ever complimentary ‘Anchor Drop’ from the top of The Nantucket Hotel. The tradition will continue this year with a Countdown to 2020. Gather outside the Hotel at 5:00PM for an Anchor Drop or an Anchor Drop at 12:00AM, both with hot chocolate for all.

 

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NANTUCKET NOEL 2015 Features Ron Howard’s ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ Film

Starting with the annual month-long Nantucket Noel on November 27 and running through Nantucket New Years, and including the dazzling Christmas Stroll Weekend December 4-6, Nantucket will be the place to be this holiday season.

Starting with Nantucket Noel, holiday festivities begin the Friday after Thanksgiving, November 27 with the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Community Caroling. Locals and visitors assemble at the top of Main Street at dusk to thrill the lighting of more than 100 holiday trees followed by.

The following weekend is the long-awaited Christmas Stroll Weekend with a dizzying list of events including Nantucket Historical Association’s Festival of Wreaths and Festival of Trees, Scavenger Hunt, Christmas Market, Storefront and Tree Decorating Contests, Town Crier Ringing in Christmas Stroll and arrival of Santa Claus, the Magical Talking Tree on Main Street, Community Sing-Along and live entertainment!

Nantucket Historical Association’s annual Festival of Wreaths will feature eighty beautifully crafted wreaths on display in the Whaling Museum’s McCausland Gallery. Each wreath was created by a Nantucket community member, local merchant, nonprofit organization, artist, artisan or school children. This free event runs Wednesday thru Saturday November 25 and 27–28 (closed Thanksgiving November 26) from 10am to 5pm. All wreaths can be won through a competitive bidding process and proceeds support NHA’s many programs.

NHA’s much beloved 22^nd Annual Festival of Trees will be held December 4 – 31 from 10am to 5pm daily (hours on Friday, December 4 will be 10am–8pm and Saturday, December 12 from 5pm-8pm) at the Whaling Museum.

NANTUCKET CHAMBER’S NANTUCKET NOEL HOLIDAY RAFFLE
Anyone can enter the Nantucket Chamber’s Nantucket Noel Holiday Raffle featuring a fabulous prize of a one-week Nantucket stay in a traditional cottage and includes round trip transportation, dining gift certificates to three restaurants, two bikes for one week, Nantucket RTA one-week bus pass for two and a Stop & Shop gift card. Only 500 tickets are available and they are on sale now. Stop at the Chamber office at 0 Main Street or call 508-228-1700 to purchase. The raffle drawing will be held on January 2, 2016.

NANTUCKET NEW YEARS
Nantucket New Years will run from Wednesday, December 30, 2015 through Saturday, January 2, 2016. Activities and events will include the Festival of Trees, a Nantucket Walkabout, Birding Field Trip, Noon Years Eve Arts & Crafts Workshop, Skating Celebration, Night to Remember Ball, New Year’s Eve Bon Voyage Dinner and more!

IN the HEART of the SEA
And as if the foregoing was not enough, the much-anticipated December 11 launch of Ron Howard’s blockbuster feature film In the Heart of the Sea, based upon the novel written by Nantucket resident Nathaniel Philbrick, will invoke Nantucket’s glory days as “whaling capital of the world” in the mid-19^th century. The film can be viewed in the very “heart of the sea” on Nantucket island!

The novel and feature film both evoke the Essex, an 88-foot whaleship which called Nantucket home. Departing its island home in August 1819 for an anticipated 2-1/2-year voyage, the Essex met its untimely end on November 20, 1820 when the ship sank 2,000 nautical miles west of South America as a direct result of a whale attack by an unusually large (85-foot) sperm whale. What followed the wreck, the desolation of the surviving sailors and their tribulations, were practically beyond words. The three survivors were rescued when almost within sight of the South American coast by Nantucket whaleship Dauphin, on February 23, 95 days after Essex sank. Both novel and film recount what is purported to be the true story behind Herman Melville’s classic 1851 novel Moby Dick.

Philbrick observed a truism of survival tales, which In the Heart of the Sea is definitely one, “A survival tale peels away the niceties and comforts of civilization. Suddenly, all the technology and education in the world means nothing. I think all of us wonder while reading a survival tale, ‘What would I have done in this situation? Would I have made it?’ ”

CARLISLE HOUSE IN the HEART of the SEA GETAWAY PACKAGE December 10-13, 2015 only
Carlisle House, an 18^th-century island B&B, is offering an In the Heart of the Sea getaway package. Just imagine watching the movie while visiting the mid-19^th century “whaling capital of the world” and the very place from which the actual Essex whaleship departed for its ill-fated voyage in 1819.

Carlisle House’s In the Heart of the Sea package will be offered December 10-13, 2015
and will help celebrate the 250th anniversary of this former whaling captain’s house which was once owned by Love Parker, sister of Essex Captain Pollard. Pollard’s story is told in the major motion picture In the Heart of the Sea by director Ron Howard which opens that weekend! For $399 the getaway package includes: two-night stay in a spacious queen room, continental-plus breakfast daily, two tickets to the film at Nantucket’s Dreamland Theatre and admission for two at the Nantucket Whaling Museum.

For additional information about Nantucket and holiday events, visit Nantucket Chamber or telephone 508-228-1700.

Meanwhile, on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard:

CAPE COD

Come celebrate Christmas on Cape Cod this December.  Every town and village puts their special stamp on holiday-inspired events throughout the month, including festive strolls, theater performances, parades, harbor lightings and Santa’s arrival by boat. Kids will love the Train to Christmas Town aboard Cape Cod Central Railroad and Gardens Aglowat Heritage Museums & Gardens. Visit http://christmasoncapecod.com/ for holiday events, packages, “shop-portunities” and to find out how you could win hundreds of dollars in gift cards through the “Santa’s Helper” social media promotion! Lots of holiday happenings are planned in Hyannis (see http://web.hyannis.com/events?month=12&Year=2015). Find more information on Cape Cod.

 

MARTHA’S VINEYARD

A favorite Island tradition for 34 years, Christmas in Edgartown – happening December 10-13 – celebrates the holidays and provides visitors the chance to experience the charm of Edgartown in the winter! Weekend highlights include the Christmas parade, an arts & craft fair, holiday concerts, photos with Santa, the annual lighting of the lighthouse at the Harbor View Hotel, retail promotions, and holiday-themed events benefiting Island Charities. For more information visithttp://www.mvy.com/

 

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