What To Do: Holiday celebrations kick into high gear

Thanksgiving has passed and Halloween 2024 is ancient history. That that means the Christmas season is in full swing – the all-encompassing holiday season with Christmas carols providing the audio background and an endless barrage of Christmas sales and ads in full assault mode.

Fortunately, there are many non-commercial holiday activities celebrating Christmas along with Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Winter Solstice.

“Chester County Hospital Lights Up Holiday Weekends in West Chester” (greaterwestchester.com/events/featured-events/holiday-weekends-west-chester) will begin on November 29 and run through January 1.

Transformed into a winter wonderland, the streets of historic West Chester are bathed in the glow of thousands of holiday lights every evening in November and December. Each weekend features holiday festivities, shopping and dining.

On Saturdays from 2-3 p.m., the “Making Spirits Bright Holiday Music Series” will feature local choirs and performances singing favorite holidays songs every Saturday on the steps of the historic courthouse on High Street. The schedule features The Uptown Singers on November 30, Bishop Shanahan Liturgical Choir on December 7, West Chester Music Academy and Jazz Mavericks on December14 and St. Agnes Choirs on December 21.

Dressed in Victorian attire, The West Chester Borough Balladeer Carolers will roam around downtown West Chester and perform throughout the holiday season.

Performance dates are November 29 and 30 and December 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and 21.

The fabulous holiday light display “West Chester Griswolds” (304 Dutton Mill Rd, West Chester, www.westchestergriswolds.com) opened on Thanksgiving night and will run through January 2.

The 2024 display has over 140,000 lights and 800 smart pixels.  Of which 99% are LED.  The display is completely computer controlled.

The singing light bulbs will sing all throughout the night.

Downingtown Good Neighbor Christmas will hold its annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 30 at 6 p.m.  The event takes place in Kerr Park at the Log House field below the Christmas Tree.

There will be holiday music provided at the concert gazebo, a face painter, small crafts and games for the kids, along with cookies and hot chocolate.  Of course, the evening would not be complete without Santa arriving by firetruck at 6:45 p.m. to help light the Christmas Tree!

Downingtown Good Neighbor Christmas will feature a 20-foot artificial lighted Giant Everest Christmas Tree with a three-foot lighted star on top.  The tree, which is professionally decorated, sits next to the Log House on Lancaster Avenue and at the entrance to Kerr Park.

The annual Downingtown Christmas Parade will be held on December 14 at 3 p.m.  The parade will feature marching bands, floats, walking and marching groups, and the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus to end the parade.

The “Kennett Square Holiday Light Parade” will be held on November 30.

The “Holiday Light Parade,” which has been a popular southern Chester County event for more than a decade, has been moved to the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The “Holiday Light Parade,” which starts at 7 p.m., features music, dance, community groups, and an assortment of vehicles — including classic cars, tractors, wagons, fire engines, and school buses — all decked with lights.

The Holiday Light Parade will follow a new route this year, starting at the intersection of South Broad and West Cypress, then heading north on the 100 block of South Broad Street and traveling west along State Street to Mill Road.

Free parking will be available at the garage from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m., compliments of Longwood Gardens & Kennett Collaborative.

Media’s “Santa’s Parade” (http://www.santaparade.media/) is scheduled for December 1 at 5 p.m.

This annual free parade through the streets of Media features Santa (of course) along with fire engines, classic cars, musicians, dancers, drummers and Mummers.

The four-mile parade route starts on East State Street and Monroe Street in downtown Media.

There will also be a Block Party from 2:30-5 p.m. and a Fun Run/Walk at 4:15 p.m.

The annual staging of “Holidays at Hagley” is an event that is always one of the most eagerly anticipated holiday attractions in this area every year.

The popular Brandywine Valley exhibit, which is included with regular admission, is running now through January 1 at Hagley Museum and Library (Route 141, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-658-2400, www.hagley.org).

“Holidays at Hagley” returns with the theme, “White ChristmasTreasures and Traditions,” and will feature Holiday Home and Garden Tours, the sixth-annual Gingerbread House Contest, Santa Day, Holiday Nights Tours, and more.

This year’s edition of “Holidays at Hagley” features tours of Eleutherian Mills, which is the first du Pont family home built in America. The tours, which will be presented each day from 10a.m.-4:30 p.m., feature decorations in a combination of styles from both the 19th and 20th centuries.

During the Victorian years when candle-lit tabletop Christmas trees were the norm, hand-made gifts were attached to tree branches, and winter scenes were displayed underneath the tree. The upstairs Victorian Library shows how magical that looked with its mid- to late-nineteenth-century toys, games and dolls. The upstairs Parlor features a case filled with small ceramic animals well-loved by some of the du Pont family children.

Early du Pont family French holiday traditions are remembered with a display of gifts that were given to E. I. du Pont’s children on New Year’s Day as well as the Twelfth Night party illustrated by the ornate French dessert service in the Dining Room.

Well-loved displays returning include the elaborate Twelfth Night celebration in the dining room and the Victorian library’s Christmas for children with its table-top tree surrounded by toys and games. Of course, there will be warm glowing lights and poinsettias.

Admission is $20 for adults, $16 for seniors and students and $10 for children (ages 6-14).

One of the best holiday events in the area is the annual “Yuletide at Winterthur.” This year’s 41st annual staging of the event, which runs through January 7 at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library (Route 52, Wilmington, Delaware, www.winterthur.org).

Visitors can revel in the beauty and warmth of the holidays and explore treasures of Christmases past with displays of holiday traditions from the 1800s to the early 20th century, including displays of: the earliest types of colorful lights decorating house exteriors; the du Pont family holiday celebrations; and the evolution of Christmas trees over the decades from the 1880s to 1960s.

A new feature is a Christmas tree covered in lime green, electric orange, and shocking pink silk-screens — images depicting items found in the room.

“Pop! Goes the Collection” by Mack Truax and Bob Trent is one of seven holiday trees inspired by the current  exhibit,  “Transformations: Contemporary Artists at Winterthur,” highlighting the museum’s Maker-Creator Fellows.

The current exhibit features the work of more than 30 nationally recognized contemporary artists inspired by Winterthur’s collections, grounds, and history.

One of visitors’ favorites every year is the 18-room dollhouse mansion created by designer and philanthropist Nancy McDaniel over a period of 30 ears. It features amazing intricate details in each room and is even decorated for the holidays.

As always, the rooms will be enhanced with the floral displays so essential to du Pont’s decorating, and with special Christmas trees inspired by the beauty of Winterthur’s gardens — including the popular Dried Flower Tree in the Conservatory.

Returning this year is a toy train display, featuring Standard Gauge toy trains. The display is presented by the Standard Gauge Module Association, whose members will construct the display at Winterthur. The display is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday evenings in December.

Special holiday programs throughout the season include “Wonderful Wednesdays” in December, evening events featuring live jazz performances, caroling, and workshops. In addition to the Wednesday evening festivities, visitors can enjoy a live one-man performance of “A Christmas Carol” by Gerald Charles Dickens, the great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens, wine and cocktail tastings, and family events with Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.

Timed Yuletide Tour reservations are required.

There will be a special “Candlelight Concert” at Winterthur on December 14 from 6-7 p.m. Surrounded by hundreds of candles, OperaDelaware will perform seasonal classics such as “Oh Holy Night” and “White Christmas,” as well as popular standards such as “Strangers in the Night” and “Some Enchanted Evening.”

Admission to Winterthur is $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and students and $8 for children.

The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center (100 Station Ave., Oaks, 484-754-3976, http://www.phillyexpocenter.com) is hosting one of its most popular events this weekend.

If you’re a music fan that is looking for hard-to-find collectibles such as out-of-print CDs, rare 45s, vintage music posters or albums that have been deleted from record company catalogs years ago, you don’t have to rely on online auction sites. There is an alternative.

That alternative is the annual “Not Just’ Rock Record Expo” which is celebrating its 38th anniversary this year. The event will take place on November 29 and 30 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center.

There will also be a variety of autograph guests including Vinny Martell from Vanilla Fudge.

Tickets for the special holiday weekend event are $5 for either day. Show hours are from noon-6 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday.

Chaddsford Winery (Route 1, Chadds Ford, 610-388-6221, www.chaddsford.com) is presenting “Reserve Tastings – Festive Faves” on select Saturdays and Sundays in December.

Guests will join the CFW Crew for an intimate and educational 60-minute experience in the Barrel Room. The trained staff will guide them through a pre-selected tasting of five widely diverse and award-winning wines from across our portfolio. The selections will be paired alongside seasonal local cheeses and other accoutrements to enhance your tasting experience.

The staff will also discuss topics such as grape growing conditions at our partner vineyards and the onsite winemaking process from production to aging and bottling.

The following is the 2024 Pairing Line Up – Greeting Wine – Sparkling White; 2022 Chardonnay with Birchrun Hills Farm’s Little Chardy Cheese; 2023 Presage: Epilogue with Farm at Doe Run’s Seven Sisters Cheese and Small Batch Kitchen’s Peach Ginger Spread; 2021 Cabernet Franc with Birchrun Hills Farm’s Red Cat Cheese; and 2021 Only In Dreams with Éclat’s Porcini and Thyme Parallel Bar.

The holiday season at Herr’s Snack Food Factory (20 Herr Drive, Nottingham, 610-932-9330, www.herrs.com) has arrived. The area around the factory site will be illuminated with thousands of lights and holiday displays.

Herr’s “Holiday Light Display,” which is free and open to the public, will be open nightly now through January 5.

Visitors to the site will be able to drive along a trail that is illuminated with more than 620,000 lights.

The special light exhibit will be open daily from dusk to dawn.

The Brandywine Museum of Art Route 1, Chadds Ford 610-388-2700, www.brandywinemuseum.org) is celebrating the 52nd anniversary of the Brandywine Railroad holiday train display now through January 8.

A holiday favorite since 1972, the Brandywine Railroad features trains running on 2,000 feet of track and contains more than 1,000 pieces, including locomotives, passenger and freight trains, and trolleys that pass through a small village, a farm, factories, a drive-in movie theater and even a carnival.

A dazzling array of both toy and scale model trains can be seen chugging through the varied scenery, including those made by Lionel, Williams, Atlas, Mike’s Train House, K-line and others. Interactive components are also incorporated into the display to allow for further engagement.

The Brandywine Railroad holiday train display is included in the cost of general admission.

One of the most elaborate model train layouts in the Delaware Valley can be found at the Morris Arboretum (100 Northwestern Avenue, Chestnut Hill, 215-247-5777, http://www.morrisarboretum.org). The popular Garden Railway Display that has become a summer fixture at The Gardens at Morris Arboretum returns again for a special holiday display.

The display, which is open to the public now through December 30 in the winter garden of the Morris Arboretum, has a quarter mile of track featuring seven loops and tunnels with 15 different rail lines and two cable cars, nine bridges (including a trestle bridge you can walk under) and bustling model trains.

The buildings and the display are all made of natural materials — bark, leaves, twigs, hollow logs, mosses, acorns, dried flowers, seeds and stones — to form a perfectly proportioned miniature landscape complete with miniature rivers. Philadelphia-area landmarks are all meticulously decorated for the holidays with lights that twinkle.

Admission to the Morris Arboretum is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors (65 and older) and $10 for students and military.

A popular Christmas activity every year is taking a train ride with Santa Claus. Fortunately, there are quite a few very good options in our area.

One of the best train rides with Santa Claus is the one presented by the West Chester Railroad (Market Street Station, West Chester, www.wcrailroad.com).

The special “Santa’s Express” trains (which feature heated cars decorated for the holidays) will run on November 29 and 30 and December 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22.

The 75-minute journey on the trail line’s heated decorated train travels through Chester Creek Valley. Santa Claus will be greeting everyone at Market Street Station and then going along for the ride to Glen Mills.

Adult fare for the West Chester Railroad trips is $40. Tickets for children (ages 2-12) are $30 while toddlers (ages 9-23 months) get to ride for $15.

The Wilmington & Western Railroad (2201 Newport Gap Pike, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-998-193, www.wwrr.com) will run its “Santa Claus Express” on Saturdays and Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be riding along with passengers on the steam-powered 90-minute round trip to Ashland Station. They will be greeting everyone on board and offering chocolate treats to the youngsters. Santa will also be posing for pictures with his fans.

Steam locomotion will return to the Wilmington & Western for its annual Santa Claus Express. The rail line’s 0-6-0 switcher No. 58 has returned to service after a multi-year restoration and will power Santa’s train through the Red Clay Valley this season.

Tickets for these trains, which run now through December 23, are $27 for adults, $26 for senior citizens and $25 for children.

The tourist rail line will also be running special “Holiday Night Express Trains,” featuring a peaceful evening ride in the railroad’s 1929 Doodlebug rail car. Tickets for these trains, which are running now through December 30, are $19 for adults, $18 for senior citizens and $17 for children.

The Strasburg Rail Road (Route 741, Strasburg, 717-687-7522, www.strasburgrailroad.com) is running its “Santa’s Paradise Express” now through December 24. Santa will be the featured guest on each ride from Strasburg to Paradise and back.

The rotund guy in the red suit will be greeting passengers, shaking hands, posing for photos and giving a treat to each child. After the train ride, children are treated to storybook readings of holiday classics. Visitors of all ages can also enjoy a ride aboard the Tinsel Trolley, a self-propelled motor car.

Tickets start at $29.

Other “Christmas Experiences” offered by the rail line are “Santa Claus Limited,” “Night Before Christmas,” and “Breakfast or Dinner with Mrs. Claus.”

The New Hope Railroad (32 Bridge Street, New Hope, www.newhoperailroad.com) is running its “Santa’s North Pole Express Train — The Magical Journey Begins Here” now through December 30.

Riders can join Santa and Mrs. Claus as they depart New Hope Station for a train ride through the historic Bucks County countryside on the way to the North Pole.

The journey begins when the Conductor calls “All Aboard!”

Passengers will experience the sounds and tastes of the holiday season as they sing along with roaming musicians playing Christmas carols, sip warm cocoa and enjoy a freshly baked cookie.

Each child will receive his or her own sleigh bell gift from Santa himself. Children and adults alike are encouraged to indulge in the season’s spirit by wearing pajamas and settling in for a relaxing ride with family and friends aboard the festive railway cars adorned with holiday decorations.

Ticket prices start at $66.

The Northern Central Railway (2 West Main Street, New Freedom, www.northerncentralrailway.com)  is running its “Santa Express Train” excursions now through December 22.

On a 45-minute train ride to Glen Rock, passengers can listen to Christmas music while enjoying the scenery of southern York County and Heritage Rail Trail County Park. And Santa Claus to appear with a special gift for each child.

After the ride, passengers can visit the NCR Engine House for a mini-Winter Wonderland, for magic-filled family photo ops and complimentary hot chocolate and a cookie.

Tickets are $39.99 for adults and $26.99 for children.

The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (Reading Outer Station, Reading, www.rbmnrr-passenger.com) is running its 2024 “Santa Claus Special” Excursions from a variety of locations — Tunkhannock, Tamaqua, Minersville and Reading.

Santa Claus will be visiting with each of the children and there will be live holiday music performed throughout the ride.

Tickets start at $20.

The Colebrookdale Railroad (South Washington Street, Boyertown, www.colebrookdalerailroad.com)  is running its “Santa’s Polar Bear Express” now through December 23.

Kids can join Santa on a magical adventure into “Christmas Past” on an exciting train journey. They will be able to sip complimentary hot cocoa or enjoy Christmas cookies and, on some trains, sing favorite carols as the Secret Valley passes by the window. Santa will bring a gift for every child, and every child has an opportunity to give their Christmas letter to him.

The rail line also is running “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” excursions now through December 23.

These special evening trains bring the storybook magic of the season to life. Kids are invited to wear pajamas and sip complimentary hot cocoa as the train crew reads “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

Ticket prices start at $40.

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Philadelphia (500 W Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting, Https://philadelphia.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/) is presenting “Holiday Bricktacular!” now through January 1.

Participants can create their own LEGO ornament and display it in on the LEGO tree and check out all the holiday scenes in the Winter Wonderland in Miniland Philadelphia.

As an added attraction, LEGO Santa will be visiting from the LEGO North Pole.

Ticket prices start at $26.99.

Three historic sites in Montgomery County have their own holiday celebrations.

Pennypacker Mills (3 Haldeman Road, Perkiomenville, 610- 287-9349, www.historicsites.montcopa.org) is hosting “Victorian Holiday Tours” now through January 5 while “Twelfth Night Tours” at Pottsgrove Manor” (100 West King Street, Pottstown, 610-326-4014, www.historicsites.montcopa.org) will be held now through January 5.

For the next five weeks, Pennypacker Mills will offer free tours of the 18-century mansion used by General George Washington as temporary headquarters during the Revolutionary War. The home will be decorated for an old-fashioned Victorian Christmas and will feature the warm glow of oil lamps, festive decorations, and a candy-making demonstration.

The event at Pottsgrove Manor features an event based on history.

Visitors can witness the transformation of Pottsgrove Manor for the yuletide season and the traditions of an 18th-century Twelfth Night party. Twelfth Night marked the end of the Christmastide season, celebrated on Epiphany.

Guided tours of the manor explore all aspects of the festivities, from the intense preparations to the differences between the way elite families like the Potts and their household staff experienced the season.

“Christmas in the Colonies” will be presented on November 30 at Graeme Park (859 County Line Road, Horsham, www.graemepark.org).

Christmas in the colonies was celebrated differently, and sometimes not at all, by each ethnic group who settled here, bringing traditions from their homeland. Graeme Park was home to the Scottish Keith and Graeme families, Irish and German servants, enslaved workers, and later the Quaker Penroses.

As you tour the rooms of the Keith House, costumed actors will present these different traditions to you – some you will recognize in our modern-day celebrations or maybe you’ll discover something new to incorporate into your own traditions.

Part of the tour will also feature the Tapestry Historic Dance Ensemble performing traditional parlor dances, Noah Lewis playing Ned Hector and telling you about the life of a free black soldier, and Santa will be on the grounds for selfies with the kids. Cookies, hot chocolate, and adult libations will be available.

Tours are on November 25 at 3:30, 4, 4:30, and 5 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for children (ages 6-12).