Press Release

HOLIDAY TIME MEANS A GREAT TIME IN PHILLY
A Dozen Festive Ways To Celebrate The Season

PHILADELPHIA, November 28, 2005 - The holiday season is especially festive in Philadelphia, where childhood favorites (think Holiday Light Show at Lord & Taylor) mix with new traditions such as the Holiday Lights, Legends and Landmarks storytelling program at City Hall and along Market Street, to create brand new experiences families can share together. The following are just some of the many holiday happenings in Philadelphia and Its Countryside™:

Holiday Light Show at the Wanamaker Building

Photo by B. Krist for GPTMC

In the City:

• Visit with the ghosts of Philadelphia’s Christmas past at the Enchanted Colonial Village. Once housed by the Lit Brothers department store, scenes from this historic holiday attraction are now on view at Please Touch Museum. November 25-December 30, 2005. 210 N. 21st Street, (215) 963-0667, www.pleasetouchmuseum.org
• Reading Terminal Market rolls out the holiday spirit with its impressive Holiday Railroad, which courses through detailed scenes set up in the headhouse lobby. November 25-December 31, 2005. 12th & Arch Streets, (215) 922-2317, www.readingterminalmarket.org
• It’s a miniature winter wonderland amid the evergreens at The Morris Arboretum’s Holiday Garden Railway, a display of seven trains and scaled replicas of historic monuments. November 25-December 31, 2005. 100 Northwestern Avenue, (215) 247-5777, www.upenn.edu/arboretum
• For nearly half of a century, the annual Holiday Light Show in the Wanamaker Building (now home to Lord &Taylor) has welcomed winter with the Grand Court’s historic organ and a dazzling light spectacle. Shows are daily, on the even hours, November 25, 2005-January 1, 2006. 1300 Market Street, (215) 241-9000
• City Hall, one of Philadelphia’s most famous landmarks, is getting a makeover as part of Holiday Lights, Legends and Landmarks, a storytelling and tour program run by Once Upon A Nation. The colored light display, using intricate projected imagery, makes its debut on November 30, 2005. Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons make for fun outings too as Once Upon A Nation storytellers recount holiday takes about some of the city’s most legendary buildings, including Lord & Taylor, Reading Terminal Market and more. Tours of City Hall’s extraordinary architecture will also be available on Wednesdays and Saturdays. (215) 629-5801, www.onceuponanation.org
• The many holiday-themed performances at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music range from family-friendly and traditional (Marc Mostovoy’s multimedia A Colonial Holiday, the Vienna Choir Boys and The Nutcracker) to the fun and funky (Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis performing Duke Ellington’s Harlem Nutcracker, Philadanco’s Xmas Philes and Jerry Blavat’s A Very Geator Christmas). Various dates from December 2-20, 2005. 260 S. Broad Street, (215) 893-1999, www.kimmelcenter.org
• Weekends are Teatime in Wonderland at the elegant Swann Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel. Young attendees can visit with Alice herself and watch excerpts from The Nutcracker ballet performed by students from the Rock School for Dance Education. December 3, 10, 17, 26, 27. 1 Logan Square. (215) 963-1500, www.fourseasons.com/philadelphia

In the Countryside:

• Santa comes early and stays late at Peddler’s Village, with dramatic lights and decorations, a Gingerbread House Competition and Display (November 18, 2005-January 5, 2006) and official Christmas Festival (December 3-4). Route 263, Lahaska, (215) 794-4000, www.peddlersvillage.com
• The holidays go red, white and green during A Longwood Gardens Christmas, where hundreds of thousands of lights, strolling carolers, daily concerts and other festivities brighten the gardens’ vast grounds and conservatory. November 24, 2005- January 8, 2006. Route 1, Kennett Square, (610) 388-1000, www.longwoodgardens.org
• An Old Fashioned Christmas will bring yuletide cheer to downtown West Chester with a weekend full of activities, including a parade, holiday house tour and shopping. December 1-4, 2005. (610) 696-4046, www.greaterwestchester.com
• Go back in time to December 1776 and witness Washington Crossing the Delaware River, an annual reenactment staged at 1:00 p.m. on Christmas Day at Washington Crossing Historic Park. Route 32, Washington Crossing, (215) 493-4076

Other Seasonal Celebrations:

• Explore African American history and the meaning of Kwanzaa during the Annual Holiday Festival and Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, featuring tours, performances and vendors. December 17, 2005. 701 Arch Street, (215) 574-0380, www.aampmuseum.org
• The holiday spirit goes beyond Christmas at the National Museum of American Jewish History, which presents its annual Being Jewish at Christmas program, a family event that includes music, refreshments and children’s activities. December 25, 2005, 12 noon-4:00 p.m. 55 N. 5th Street, (215) 923-3811, www.nmajh.org

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) builds the region’s economy and image through destination marketing to increase the number of visitors, the number of nights they stay and the number of things they do in the five-county region. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com or call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.

Note to Editors: For photos of Greater Philadelphia, visit our Photo Gallery.

CONTACT:

Cara Schneider, GPTMC
(215) 599-0789, cara@gptmc.com

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