Holiday celebrations in the Hudson Valley

Special Thanksgiving weekend programs,
plus candlelight tours in December

Activities at Van Cortlandt Manor, Sunnyside, Philipsburg Manor

TARRYTOWN, NY (Nov. 9, 2009) - Thanksgiving weekend marks the start of the Hudson Valley's holiday season at Washington Irving's Sunnyside in Tarrytown and Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, with special activities planned for the long holiday weekend.

Costumed guides will present themed experiences that focus on historic traditions of the winter holidays. The two sites are open Friday-Sunday, Nov. 27-29, from 10-4 p.m.

All Sunnyside and Van Cortlandt Manor tours during Thanksgiving weekend and throughout December are holiday themed, and the sites are fully dressed in traditional holiday attire. Both sites offer evening candlelight tours on selected December Saturdays. Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, in keeping with its heritage as a farm and commercial outpost, retains its rustic look throughout the season and is open on the same schedule. All sites are part of the non-profit Historic Hudson Valley network.
On Thanksgiving weekend, Sunnyside visitors can enjoy traditional Christmas decorations and take part in special children's activities, including helping craft a gingerbread replica of Sunnyside and Christmas tree ornaments. Costumed interpreters will tell 19^th-century holiday stories, including a participatory version of The Night Before Christmas.

Visitors to Van Cortlandt Manor can learn about historic traditions of the winter holidays, including candle and soap making, apple cider pressing, and open hearth cooking. Children can help make gingerbread cookies.

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

Historic Hudson Valley Museum Shops, including the flagship Philipsburg Manor location, are open throughout the weekend and packed with gift possibilities and special Hudson Valley holiday merchandise that can't be found at traditional retailers.

 Evening Candlelight Tours Dec. 12, 19, 26

Evening candlelight tours take place Saturdays, Dec. 12, 19, and 26, at Van Cortlandt Manor and Sunnyside. Tours are offered from 4-8 each evening and reservations are a must. Tickets - $14 for adults, $6 for children 5-17, free for those under 5 - may be purchased online at www.hudsonvalley.org or by calling 914-631-8200. Historic Hudson Valley members attend for half price.

At Van Cortlandt Manor, the evening begins with a tour of the decorated Manor House, which features a harpist in the formal parlor. A guide carrying a candlelit lantern then 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.

At Sunnyside, candlelight tours bring an 1850s Christmas to life. Visitors are escorted down a lantern-lit path and the house is decorated with holly, evergreens, and candles. Excerpts from Irving's Christmas tales and family letters are the evening's theme. Visitors can also participate in caroling. Hot cider is served beside a roaring fire.

The sites are 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.