2020 Holiday Events for Gardeners
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November and December offer amazing holiday events for gardeners in the Northeast. From beautiful light displays to Christmas teas and train shows, you will find a wealth of inspiration for your own holiday celebrations. Due to Covid precautions, all events are accessible with advance ticket purchase only. On the plus side, most of the events are running longer than previous years. Below is just a sampling. If your organization has an event that is not listed, please feel free to add it in the Comments.
Gardens Aglow
Heritage Museums & Gardens, Sandwich, MA
Thursdays-Sundays, November 27 - December 27
This event features beautiful light displays throughout the gardens, as well as many activities throughout the grounds. Roast marshmallows at the fire pits. Participate in a reindeer scavenger hunt. View a new addition to the event, the McGraw Family Garden of the Senses that features a stunning model train display. Savor festive treats and hot drinks at the Magnolia Café. Visit with Santa Claus at the Outdoor Stage. Enjoy Cape Cod Donuts, a warming area, games, and holiday music at the Parade Field. Shop for fabulous holiday gifts in The Shop.
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Highfield Hall and Gardens, Falmouth, MA
Wednesdays–Saturdays, November 7–December 13, 12–6 pm
Highfield Hall is decorated for the holidays with a blend of old world charm and contemporary elements. Come see how natural woodland themes enhance elegant seasonal surprises, guaranteed to inspire, and leave an everlasting impression on all visitors.New this year will be the Winter Woodland Village, installed in and around the Patrick Dougherty Stickwork sculpture. If you love the fairy houses, you will love the woodland vignettes! The Gift Gallery will once again be alive with artisan gifts for all ages.
Festival of Trees and Snow Village
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Elm Bank, Wellesley, MA
Wednesdays–Sundays, November 27-December 20, 10 am–8 pm
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
The Mount, Lenox, MA
Saturdays–Sundays, November 23–January 5, 11 am- 4 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.
Winter Lights
Naumkeag, Stockbridge, MA
Tuesdays-Sundays, November 27–January 2, 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.
Holiday Stroll & Parade of Trees
The Stevens-Coolidge Place, Andover, MA
Thursdays-Sundays, December: 3-20, 4:30-7:30 pm
This intimate seasonal event features 24 decorated trees nestled in a designed lightscape on our grounds. Enjoy a stroll through the twinkling lights and beautifully decorated trees. In a unique twist this year, program participants are asked to bring canned goods to vote for their favorite decorated Holiday Tree. In the spirit of giving, all canned goods will be donated to families of Neighbors in Need.
Magic of Christmas
Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT
November 27–January 3
This year’s celebration features new twists on the traditional décor. Imagine a fictional mantel-decorating contest in the Griswold boardinghouse between the historic Lyme Art Colony artists. Inspired by their paintings, they rummage through their studios as well as old trunks in Miss Florence’s attic for festive objets d’art and holiday decorations. Miss Florence announces the winner and awards ribbons on her birthday—Christmas Day!
In the Krieble Gallery, over 220 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.
Gardens Aglow
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, ME
November 21–January 2
New England’s biggest and brightest light display! With over 650,000 lights, the central gardens are transformed into an extravaganza of festive lights in a dramatic display of brilliant color. This year, it will be a driving tour.
Christmas at the Newport Mansions
Newport Mansions, Newport, RI
November 21 - January 10
The Breakers and The Elms are once again decorated with thousands of poinsettias, fresh flowers, evergreens, and wreaths. Holidays at the Newport Mansions will be more spectacular than ever this year, with our new outdoor experience. For the first time, the exterior of The Breakers and its landscape will be awash in thousands of festive colored lights, including 28 spruce trees glittering and glowing; The Breakers façade bathed in color; and illumination of the historic paths, shrubbery and trees in various colors. The Children’s Cottage will be outlined in lights and visitors will be able to peek through the windows at Santa’s Workshop inside. Holiday music will fill the air.
Holiday Train Show
New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY
November 12–January 31
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.
With tickets and capacity very limited due to enhanced safety protocols that include social distancing, the only way to see this captivating display is as a Member, Patron, Corporate Member, or Bronx Community Partner.
A Longwood Christmas
Longwood Gardens, Kennet Square, PA
November 20–January 10, 10 am–11 pm
This holiday season, experience all the traditions that make A Longwood Christmas so special. Inside, stroll among beautifully adorned trees and plant palettes of delicate winter whites to rich reds and the greenest of evergreens as you wrap yourself in a nostalgic Christmas morning scene. Engage your senses with fragrant lilies and paperwhites, and relish in the timeless beauty of Christmas favorites like poinsettias and kalanchoe woven throughout the Conservatory.
Christmas Village in Philadelphia
Love Park & City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
November 26–December 24, 11 am–7 pm
Philadelphia transforms into a European outdoor holiday market for the annual Christmas Village, held at iconic LOVE Park. Shoppers can expect more than 80 vendors set up in dozens of wooden booths and two large tents, all offering a wide range of international holiday gifts, ornaments, jewelry, handmade toys, high-quality arts and crafts, wintry apparel, and edible and drinkable treats, while entertainment keeps things festive.
Holiday Railway
Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia, PA
November 27–December 31, 10 am–5 pm
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.
Yuletide at Winterthur
Winterthur, Winterthur, DE
November 21–January 3
This year, one of the Brandywine Valley’s most spectacular holiday showcases will dazzle you indoors and outdoors. Warm yourself by the fire pit and enjoy some s’mores; watch our 3D light showdisplayed on the outside of the house (December 1–12); hop on our Kids' tram and take in the festive outdoor decorations; and explore the Conservatory and entertaining rooms on the fifth floor of the house with a self-guided tour, where you can revel in the breathtaking trees and dazzling room displays. Of special note is the majestic dried flower tree, on view in the Conservatory and featuring some 60 varieties of flowers.
