2023 Holiday Events for Gardeners
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From beautiful light displays to Christmas teas and train shows, you will find a wealth of holiday cheer at historic mansions and botanic gardens in the region. Below is a list of holiday events in the Northeast and Florida. Please note that almost all of the events listed below require an advance-purchase admission ticket, and are selling out very quickly this year.
Maine
Gardens Aglow
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, ME
November 18–December 31
New England’s biggest and brightest light display! With over 750,000 lights, the 14 acres of central gardens are transformed into a dramatic display of brilliant color.
Massachusetts
Holidays at Highfield
Highfield Hall and Gardens, Falmouth, MA
November 24–December 10, 10 am—4 pm
The Holidays are set for another year of spectacular decorating, seasonal activities, displays and Santa is expected to set up residence on specific days. The Gift Gallery will once again be alive with artisan gifts for all ages. Come on in and complete your Holiday shopping!
Festival of Trees and Snow Village
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Elm Bank, Wellesley, MA
November 24-December 31
The Festival of Trees, displayed in the Hunnewell Building, offers beautifully decorated holiday trees that are donated and decorated by local businesses, garden clubs, and individuals. Snow Village is an enchanting display of model trains winding through villages and vignettes, including Christmas in the Boston, Fenway Park, and hundreds of decorated houses and lights. Visitors can also enjoy the decorated buildings and grounds at The Gardens at Elm Bank with a stroll or a horse-drawn wagon ride.
Holiday House Tours & Nightwood
The Mount, Lenox, MA
Holiday House Tours: Saturdays–Sundays, November–December, 10 am- 3 pm
Nightwood: Thursday–Sundays, November 17–January 6, 5–8 pm
Tour Edith Wharton’s home decorated for the holidays and enjoy the second year of an ethereal winter landscape inspired by The Mount’s unique architecture and history. NightWood combines music, lighting, and theatrical elements to create unique scenes that evoke feelings of wonder, mystery, and magic.
Winter Lights
Naumkeag, Stockbridge, MA
November 24–January 6, Wednesdays–Sundays, 4:30-8:30 pm
Enjoy the spectacular garden of Naumkeag lit with thousands of shimmering holiday lights. Each weekend features performances and activities for the whole family, from the young to the young at heart.
Nightlights
New England Botanic Garden, Boylston MA
November 24–December 31, Daily 4:00–10:00 pm
Celebrate the season with a light display heralded last year as a top-five show in Greater Boston! Enchanting landscapes, fun experiences, and thousands of lightsawait. Enjoy s’mores, seasonal drinks, a model train, shopping for holiday gifts, and fun photo opportunities while creating memories for the whole family.
Connecticut
Holiday Magic
Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT
November 24–December 31
Enjoy the Griswold mansion decorated for the holidays. In the Krieble Gallery, over 250 painted palettes, including a dozen new ones created this year, adorn four stunning Artist Trees. Miss Florence’s Christmastime Teas are available December 1-30. In the art museum, enjoy the special exhibit “Revisiting America: The Prints of Currier and Ives.”
Rhode Island
Christmas at Blithewold & Sparkle
Blithewold, Bristol, RI
November 22–January 4, Wednesday—Sunday 11—3 pm
Visit the beautifully decorated mansion. This year’s theme, "All About Augustine," will focus on the youngest daughter and her interesting and adventurous life. The holiday season includes Jazz Brunches, Afternoon Teas, Wreath-making Workshops, Music in the Living Room Series, and a Sing-Along with Santa.
Outdoors, there is the Sparkle program. Explore Blithewold’s illuminated Gardens and Grounds as you collect scavenger hunt clues. Gather around cozy fires in the Enclosed Garden and listen while seasonal music floats through the air. Cocktails and hot beverages are available. Follow beautifully illuminated paths throughout the grounds to discover stunning, newly expanded light displays, handmade bamboo lanterns, and fun photo ops.
Holidays at the Newport Mansions
Newport Mansions, Newport, RI
November 17 - December 30
Sparkling Lights at the Breakers: Thursday–Sundays, 4:30–7 pm
A total of 28 Christmas trees will glow in various places throughout The Breakers, Marble House and The Elms, featuring ornate, themed decorations that reflect the room where they are located. As always, the 15-foot poinsettia tree in the Great Hall of The Breakers – made up of 150 poinsettia plants – will provide a perfect holiday photo opportunity for visitors. Poinsettias, flowers, evergreens, wreaths and floral arrangements will decorate the fireplace mantels, tabletops and staircases of these Gilded Age mansions.
For the second year in a row, thousands of lights will illuminate the historic landscape at The Breakers. This year Sparkling Lights has been expanded to include both the north and south portions of the grounds. Stroll along a winding path and enjoy holiday music and displays including Peppermint Woods, Gnome Knoll, Snow People Corner and a Tunnel of Light, among others.
New York
Holiday Train Show & NYBG Glow
New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY
Train Show: November 17–January 15
NYBG Glow: November 17–January 13
Marvel at model trains zipping through an enchanting display of famous New York landmarks—imagine the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Rockefeller Center, and other favorites—each delightfully re-created from natural materials such as birch bark, acorns, and cinnamon sticks.
Experience the magic of New York City’s longest outdoor illuminated color spectacle with NYBG Glow. See NYBG’s iconic sights and buildings come to life as dramatic, glittering canvases with the Haupt Conservatory and Mertz Library Building as the centerpieces. Colorfully lit paths and trees, thousands of dazzling LEDs, illuminated plant stories, and whimsical, picture-perfect installations reflect the surrounding gardens and collections—creating a spectacle not to be missed!
A Vanderbilt Holiday
Vanderbilt National Historic Site, Hyde Park, NY
November 24–December 31, Thursday–Monday
The first floor of the mansion is decorated for a Vanderbilt holiday house party, including an extravagant new holiday buffet.
A Gilded Age Christmas
Staatsburg State Historic Site, Staatsburg, NY
November 24–December 31
Staatsurg is a 65-room mansion designed in the Beaux-Arts style. Enjoy Staatsburgh's beautiful interiors, with their original furniture, art and décor, lavishly decorated for the holiday season.
Holiday Classic Mansion Tour
Lyndhurst Mansion, Tarrytown, NY
November 27–December 29, Thurs.–Mon. 9:30–3:00
See Lyndhurst mansion transformed into an extravagant wonderland of holiday splendor. Described as one of the “Ten Best Historic Holiday Tours” by USA Today, Lyndhurst goes all-out during the holiday season, filling the mansion with elaborate tableaus of décor, which change every year. Dozens of Christmas trees are expertly decorated and designed to complement the elegant period furnishings within the rooms of the house. During this month only, the curators bring out rarely-seen items that belonged to Lyndhurst’s former owners. This is a once-a-year opportunity to see many of the glittering possessions that are usually tucked away in the archives.
Pennsylvania
A Longwood Christmas
Longwood Gardens, Kennet Square, PA
November 17–January 7, 10 am–11 pm
This holiday season, experience a radiance of retro, a bevy of bright, and numerous nostalgic moments with us. Marvel at playful trees draped in throwback baubles to shimmering tinsel to childhood-favorite toys. Stroll through a fab, festive holiday party scene decked out in mid-century magic. Reminisce amid a vintage Christmas street scene, make new merry memories amid dazzling, vibrant light displays—including some super-sized surprises—and revel in the retro fun at every turn.
Holiday Railway
Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia, PA
November 24–December 30
Visitors of all ages will be wowed by a quarter mile of track featuring seven loops and tunnels with fifteen different rail lines and two cable cars, nine bridges (including a trestle bridge you can walk under), and bustling model trains, all set in the lovely winter garden of the Morris Arboretum. The display and buildings 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 small streams. Philadelphia-area landmarks such as a masterpiece replica of Independence Hall are made using pinecone seeds for shingles, acorns as finials and twigs as downspouts.
Delaware
Yuletide at Winterthur
Winterthur, Winterthur, DE
November 18–January 7
The Yuletide tour at Winterthur showcases rooms in Henry Francis du Pont’s former home decorated in full holiday splendor, including specialty decorated trees that celebrate the garden, and du Pont family traditions. The displays are inspired by the traditions and festivities of the season as enjoyed by H. F. du Pont and his family. Special holiday programs throughout the season include Wonderful Wednesdays in December, evening events featuring live jazz performances, caroling, and workshops.
Noel at Nemours Estate
Nemours Estate, Wilmington, DE
November 14–December 30, Tuesday–Sunday 10 am–5 pm
Ever since 1910, when Mr. and Mrs. duPont began living in their newly built mansion, the holiday season has been a festive time at Nemours. The Christmas decorations at the Nemours Mansion are often inspired by the architecture of the home, the customs of the duPonts or the French influence.
Florida
Holiday Lights in the Gardens
Florida Botanical Gardens, Largo, FL
November 24 – December 31, 5:30–9:30 pm
The Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation invites you to attend its annual winter event, beginning the day after Thanksgiving and ending the first day of the new year. The Gardens will sparkle with 1 million, twinkling, LED lights in a multitude of colors. Vibrant laser lights and lighted figures round out our display to wow guests of all ages.
Lights in Bloom
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota, FL
Select dates – December 8–January 3
Step into a tropical winter wonderland at our Downtown Sarasota campus featuring more than two million lights, festive photo opportunities, activities & entertainment for the whole family to enjoy!
Johnsonville Night Lights in the Gardens
Naples Botanic Garden, Naples, FL
November 24 – January 7, 6:00–9:00 pm
What better way to celebrate winter in the tropics than with an annual lighted extravaganza awash in color? Stroll through the Garden and marvel at the beauty of our collections illuminated in thousands of lights.
Dazzling Nights
Leu Gardens, Orlando, FL
November 24 – January 6
Dazzling Nights is a magical holiday experience for everyone. Over a million lights will immerse you into the wonder of the holidays.
NightGarden
Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, Miami, FL
November 10 – January 8
Take a stroll through Miami’s breathtaking Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden at night! The beautiful 23-acre gardens have been transformed into an illuminated magical fairyland with technicolor flowers and unique sculptures. Step into this enchanted wonderland at NightGarden.
