Lantern Tours

2023 LANTERN TOURS ARE SOLD OUT. WALK-UPS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

2023 Lantern Tours will run from December 15th – December 17th, and December 20th – December 23rd.

Tickets are sold out!

This is a special ticketed event and Annual Passes do not apply.

England 1661
It’s Christmas for the milkmaids of Worcestershire. As Christmas returns to a happy time familiar before the war, catching up with friends leads naturally to talk of cheese, strawberry milk…and love. Will Christmas bring a happy surprise for one of the milkmaids?

Ireland 1778
Sometimes gifts are best left ungiven… In 1778, near Ballyshannon, County Donegal, the Doherty’s are struggling through yet another hard winter. War in America though far away, has begun to impact the Irish people, both economically and politically. For some in Ireland, the Doherty’s included, times are tough. Join them on Christmas night, when an unexpected visitor brings gifts that might be more complicated than they seem.

Germany 1765
Klara, responsible for Christmas dinner for the first time, finds her preparations interrupted not once, but twice by surprise visitors. The men have come to ask her a very important question, the same question, in fact! Fritz has grand plans to emigrate to Virginia, while Ernst is enamored with the idea of Catherine the Great’s settlements on the Volga. What’s a girl to do with two very different suitors on Christmas Eve?

Shenandoah Valley 1820
What to do when Papa, a music teacher much devoted to shape note singing, a popular form of music in the Shenandoah Valley, isn’t quite in the holiday mood? Like many of the conservative families in the Valley, Papa finds the Christmas tradition of belsnickling to be too worldly and irreverent, and much to the disappointment of his daughters, he does not allow belsnicklers into his house. Will the holiday spirit or Papa’s stubborness win out?

Staunton 1851
Christmas is finally becoming a recognizable family-oriented holiday. People buy gifts, eat good food, decorate a table-top tree. But what about the families who can’t spend a lot? How do all of the new flashy advertisements in newspapers play into what makes a Christmas? And with new entertainments happening all the time, what keeps a family together on the holiday?

Tickets are:

$19 for ages 6 & up

$9 for ages 2 to 5

Under 2 are free

If you, or a member of your party, have mobility limitations and require a seat on the mobility cart, reservations must be made by 12:00 PM on the day of your tour. In order to make the reservation, please call 540-332-7850.

2023 LANTERN TOURS ARE SOLD OUT. WALK-UPS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.