Yuletide Tours at Historic Rock Ford

In 2022, for the first time in three years, Historic Rock Ford is excited to once again present traditional Yuletide candlelight tours complete with our own period dance group, the Warm Hearth Committee as well as live harpsichord music by Margaret Marsch and Faith Martin with Mercy Martin on violin. An element from last year’s Yuletide will be retained in that visitors will be able to hear Edward Hand in his study recounting his memories of Christmas night 1776 when he and his men crossed the Delaware River and launched a surprise attack against the Hessian Garrison at Trenton, New Jersey.

During the era that Edward Hand and his family lived at Rock Ford, the traditional English Christmas was celebrated as “Yuletide”, a period of gatherings, games, ghost stories, dancing and dining with family and friends. Yuletide extended over the twelve-day period from December 25 (which was mostly a day for religious observance) and culminating in “Twelfth Night” on January 6 which was sometimes celebrated with a ball or an elaborate feast highlighted with a special cake. When gifts were exchanged at all, they tended to be small items or tokens of affection and were usually given on New Year’s Day rather than as part of the Christmas celebration.

To fight the post-Christmas blues, we invite you and your family to visit Historic Rock Ford for the celebration of Yuletide—a time when Christmas Day was only the beginning of the season.

Yuletide tours will be held on December 27 and December 28 (4 PM-6 PM and 6 PM-8 PM) and December 29 (2 PM-4 PM and 4 PM-6 PM). Due to limited guest capacity, advance ticket purchasing is strongly recommended through rockford.yapsody.com. Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors (65+), $12 for youth (6-17) and free for children 5 and under.