Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park
1515 S. Harwood St., Dallas
dallasheritagevillage.org
214/413-3674
Candlelight event details
Hours: 3–9pm on December 8–9
Admission: $12 adults; $8 children ages 4–12 with discount tickets available online through December 6. Fees for food and activities.
Parking: $10
Dallas Heritage Village details
Hours: 10am–4pm Tuesday–Saturday; noon–4pm Sunday. Open 3–9pm December 10–11. Closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and all of January.
Admission: $9 adults; $5 ages 4–12. Kids are free on the third Sunday of the month.
Parking: Free
Amid the hustle and bustle of Christmas parties and growing gift lists, it’s easy to yearn for the version of the holiday from a “simpler” time, i.e. top hats and glowing oil lanterns straight out of a Charles Dickens novel, and more snow than would ever fall in North Texas. So celebrate the yuletide as it used to be at Dallas Heritage Village on December 8–9 for the 41st annual Candlelight, an event that Texas Journey Magazine listed as the number one Texas site worth seeing.
The village is actually a living history museum at Old City Park in the heart of Dallas, right where the city’s first park originally sat in 1876. Its collection of 25 major buildings and houses from around North Texas, built from 1840–1910, are adorned with decorations of the time period: garland, candles, Christmas trees, wreaths and poinsettias – the soft glow in contrast against the downtown skyline.
Bring your camera for photos of the kids with Santa, who will be dressed in the more period-appropriate green suit. The kids can make tin can ornaments and recipe holders from clothespins. Enjoy stage performances by local children’s and adult choirs, a clogging group and a swing band, and warm up by the bonfire, staffed by the actors of the Trinity River Desperados. You may know them as the group that stages the Old West gunfights at the village.
Hop on the tractor for hayrides, and go on a carriage ride pulled by resident donkeys Nip and Tuck. The American mammoth jackstock donkeys, a breed developed by George Washington, will be wearing Christmas elf hats. Groups of strolling carolers, many in costume, will round the village singing cheery tunes.
The cooks in your family will love the 2012 theme, Timeless Treats, in celebration of the big holiday meals. “Often, the best, most treasured holiday memories revolve around food,” said director of education Melissa Prycer. “That’s true today and has been true for the last 150 years.” The buildings, all of which will be open and staffed, will feature examples of holiday menus and complimentary recipes cards with both historic and modern versions of the same recipe. Check out the exhibit featuring a plethora of historic culinary gadgets, in the same grain as the labor saving devices we use today.
Dig into festive foods such as traditional kettle corn, nuts and hot chocolate or cider, available for purchase from food trucks, vendors and the Dallas Heritage Village Guild’s Holiday Bake Sale. Your appetite and your wish for an authentic Christmas will be satisfied.
