Holiday celebrations in the Hudson Valley

Sunnyside, Van Cortlandt Manor, Philipsburg Manor plan special Thanksgiving programs

Van Cortlandt Manor basks in candlelight during December

TARRYTOWN, NY (Nov. 7, 2008) - The Hudson Valley holiday season kicks off Thanksgiving weekend at Washington Irving's Sunnyside in Tarrytown, Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, and Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, with special activities planned for the long holiday weekend.

Costumed guides will present themed tours that focus on historic traditions of the winter holidays. All sites are open for these special tours Friday-Sunday, Nov. 28-30, from 10-4 p.m.

All Sunnyside and Van Cortlandt Manor tours throughout Thanksgiving weekend and December are holiday themed, and the sites are fully dressed in traditional holiday attire. Van Cortlandt Manor also offers evening candlelight tours on selected December weekends. Philipsburg Manor, in keeping with its history as a farm and commercial center, retains its rustic look throughout the season.

On Thanksgiving weekend, Sunnyside visitors will be treated to an amusing, lively, and family friendly version of the Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol, courtesy of Toni Rubio's Living Museum Company. Performances will take place at 12, 1, and 2:30 on Friday and Saturday (no performances on Sunday). In addition, families can enjoy traditional Christmas decorations and special children's activities, including helping craft a gingerbread replica of Sunnyside and Victorian-style greeting cards and Christmas tree ornaments.

Visitors to Philipsburg Manor can enjoy colonial games, milling, coopering, wheat threshing, colonial tool activities, a make-and-take weaving activity, cooking, special interactive, kid-friendly house tours, and more.

Visitors to Van Cortlandt Manor can view and take part in early American post-harvest, pre-holiday activities, including candle and soap making, apple cider pressing, and open hearth cooking.

Candlelight Tours at Van Cortlandt Manor, Dec. 20-21, and 27-28

Van Cortlandt Manor candlelight tours take place Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 21-22, 27-28. Tours are offered from 4-8 each evening and reservations are a must. Tickets - $14 for adults, $6 for children 5-17 and members of Historic Hudson Valley - may be purchased online at www.hudsonvalley.org or by calling 914-631-8200, Ext. 618.

After a tour of the Manor House, which will be decorated for Christmas and features a harpist in the formal parlor, a guide carrying a candlelit lantern brings visitors to the site's Ferry House, where a first-person account of Twelfth Night takes place, featuring the Lord of Misrule who leads the festivities. Inside the Ferry House, visitors are encouraged to dance to fiddle music. Afterwards, it's time to toast the season with cider and cookies near the warmth of a bonfire.

Sunnyside and Philipsburg Manor are open daily except Tuesday through Dec. 31. Van Cortlandt Manor is open weekends through December. All Historic Hudson Valley sites are closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Thanksgiving weekend admission is $12 for adults, $6 for children 5-17, and free for those under five and for Historic Hudson Valley members.

Historic Hudson Valley is a network of six historic sites in Sleepy Hollow Country and the Great Estates region; Washington Irving's Sunnyside; Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate, a historic site of the National Trust; Philipsburg Manor; the Union Church of Pocantico Hills; Van Cortlandt Manor; and Montgomery Place Historic Estate.

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