This post comes to us from Ed Miller, our Historic Houses Coordinator. It can be viewed as its original posting here.
I’m excited to welcome everyone to this year’s holiday season at the historic houses of Fairmount Park.
Every year, for the past 45 years, the houses have opened their doors to the public to showcase the grandeur of these incredibly well preserved historic homes and the decorating talents of local garden clubs and stewardship groups. This year’s theme, “A Very Philly Christmas”, offers fun and engaging events for everyone in and around Philadelphia.
“What Does “Very Philly” Mean?”
But all of this begs the question-“what exactly is “A Very Philly Christmas?” With an almost overwhelming number of choices, we whittled this broad concept down to four qualities of Philadelphia that we feel makes our city such a special place-music, food, family, and neighbors. Those themes are directly reflected in our special events this year-“Sounds of the Season”, “Family Day”, “Neighbor’s Day”, and “Flavors of the Season”.
“Very Philly Partners!”
Our next step was to find Philadelphia based partners that showcased the variety and excellence of the region’s artists and entrepreneurs. Wonderfully, so many organizations jumped at the opportunity to get involved. For “Sounds of the Season”, we have the formidable line up of Opera Philadelphia, the Jazz Clef Club,the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra,the Mummers, Artístas y Músicos Latino Americanos, and Philadelphia doo wop group, the Quiet Storm.
For “Family Day”, great family oriented organizations such as Smith Playground, Please Touch Museum, and the Franklin Institute will be partnering with us to provide kid-friendly activities. Walter Staib, from the Emmy award-winning PBS TV show “A Taste of History” and his pastry chef from City Tavern will be providing treats along with such renowned food vendors such as Shane Confectionery, Yard’s Brewing Company, Philly Pretzel Company, Sweetzel’s Bakery, Whole Foods, Giambri’s Quality Sweets, and John and Kira’s Chocolates.
“Very Philly=Very Special”
This line up is a fantastic sampling of what Philadelphia has to offer. That we can present this talent in such a unique setting as these historic houses, all located in one of the most beautiful urban parks in the country, is what excites us the most. So we welcome all. Whether you are a music lover, foodie, parent, or a lover of beautifully decorated historic houses, “A Very Philly Christmas” is sure to provide you and all the people you care about an experience that will make this holiday season very special indeed.
We hope you have a chance to check out one of the four special days, or visit throughout December. For more information please click here.
