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The Best of the Holiday
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Around The South
Williamsburg, Virginia
by Renee Wright
Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas features classic wreaths and arrangements made entirely of natural evergreens, fruit, and other objects available in the mid-1700s in Virginia.
The Christmas decorations at Colonial Williamsburg set the style for the holidays in many American homes. The Historic Districtic features classic wreaths and arrangements made entirely of natural evergreens and fruit available in the mid-1700s in Virginia.
Some 700 wreaths and more than four miles of pine rope adorn every door, mantel and table in the historic district during the holiday season, from Thanksgiving Day to New Years Day.
During this period, the dirt streets of this living history city are lit by some 1200 electric candles and by torches called cressets that burn wood faggots. Visitors truly feel they have time-traveled to colonial days when Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia.
The Grand Illumination is the official "kick-off" for Williamsburg’s Christmas season held each year in early December. This free outdoor festival is Colonial Williamsburg’s gift to US citizens, and tens of thousands attend every year.
- Live period music by fife and drums, balladeers and choirs, sound from stages and streets beginning at 4:45pm.
- At 6:15, the fireworks, or more properly "groundworks" due to their low altitude, begin. The ground level displays occur simultaneously from three separate locations in the historic district, literally surrounding revelers with explosions.
During the holiday season, Colonial Williamsburg schedules many special events.
You can take a seminar on how to create the traditional Williamsburg decorations (or you can simply buy them online at www.williamsburgmarketplace.com).
The very popular Christmas Decoration Walking Tour, special living history presentations that recreate the holidays as celebrated in colonial days, and seasonal concerts fill the month of December.
Don’t miss the exhibit of antique toys at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.
Another holiday must-see: the apple-bedecked facade of the historic Palmer House.
Visit Williamsburg's special Christmas site for more information. Here you'll find articles on:
- how to make Williamsburg-style holiday decorations
- the history of the pineapple in decor, and
- recipes for a Twelfth Night Feast, plus much more.
During the Christmas season, the taverns in the historic district serve traditional holiday fare adapted from colonial menus, and the Williamsburg Inn offers a special holiday tea most afternoons.
Elsewhere in Virginia's Historic Triangle, holiday celebrations invite visitors to see Yorktown and Jamestown in festive garb.
The historic houses of Yorktown are decorated for the season, while the community celebrates with Fife and Drum concerts, bonfires and a boat parade.
Christmas events at the Jamestown Settlement illustrate how the earliest settlers and their Native American neighbors spent the holidays.
Nearby, the James River Plantations of Berkeley (site of America's first official Thanksgiving), Edgewood and Shirley host elegant teas, progressive luncheons and dinners, and decorating workshops.
The College of William & Mary, located in downtown Williamsburg, celebrates the season with a number of traditional celebrations including a Yule Log Ceremony and a special reading of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by the college president.
An instructor at William & Mary is credited with introducing the custom of decorated Christmas trees from Germany in 1842. Today, the college's Christmas tree, located on the Wren Building porch, is adorned with paper doves bearing messages of peace.
The Holiday season concludes on New Year's Eve with Williamsburg’s First Night, an alcohol-free celebration featuring music, dancing, theater and food at various locations throughout Colonial Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary.
The historic buildings and museums of Colonial Williamsburg are open 365 days a year, including Christmas Day and New Years. You can find much more information at www.history.org or call 800.HISTORY.
For more information on events in and around Williamsburg, plus special packages, go to www.VisitWilliamsburg.com or call 800-368-6511.
originally published in Square Dancing Today, 2003
Photo credits: Photo courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (top) and the Williamsburg Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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