Order Thanksgiving Dinner To Go, Meet Aladdin the Christmas Camel, Tractor Rides, and Visit The Shops at Mount Vernon for Unique Holiday Gifts and Black Friday Discounts
Mount Vernon, VA, November 18, 2024 – The holiday season was a special time for George and Martha Washington, and their beloved Mount Vernon estate was at the center of celebrations with family and friends. Today, that holiday spirit continues with new festive holiday experiences for guests including Winter Glow and Christmas Illuminations. As a holiday bonus, these event ticket-holders will receive unlimited daytime admission to Mount Vernon through February 2025.
Winter Glow is scheduled for November 29-30, December 15-19, and December 23, 2024. Kick off the holidays with an enchanted 18th-century experience surrounded by festive lighting set to holiday music. Visitors will enter the lantern-lit Mount Vernon historic area, then experience Washington's famous landscape transformed by light and music. Historic spaces throughout the estate will be aglow and illuminated, creating a festive atmosphere that will delight guests of all ages. Warm up by the crackling fires, roast s'mores, run through a straw bale kids maze, and play "I Spy General George Washington" around the estate. Don’t leave without meeting Aladdin the Camel, continuing the tradition of George Washington bringing a camel to Mount Vernon in 1787. Learn more.
Christmas Illuminations is scheduled for Dec. 20, 21, 22 at 5:30 p.m. Join Mount Vernon for a family-friendly celebration of the holiday season. Watch holiday fireworks over the Potomac River, hear festive holiday music, wander an 18th-century winter market and encampment, meet Aladdin the Camel, participate in 18th-century dancing in the upper garden's greenhouse, and visit the Interpretive Center for a story time reading of Gingerbread for Liberty. Learn more.
The Shops at Mount Vernon is the perfect place to find distinctive holiday ornaments and décor, as well as an array of unique gifts for everyone on your shopping list. From November 29-December 2, the Shops and shops.mountvernon.org will be running a special promotion: Spend $75 and save 15%, $150 and save 25%, $200 and save 30%. From November 29-December 2 shop online at shops.mountvernon.org to receive a free tote with purchases over $50. Featured gifts include unique holiday ornaments, the Mount Vernon Advent Calendar, the Commander-In-Chief Collection, Mount Vernon Tartan Collection, exclusive Mount Vernon tea, Mount Vernon rocks glasses and whiskey, children’s gifts, and an expansive array of books for history buffs. And just in time for the holidays, comes the introduction of the Mount Vernon Print Shop, where customers can select their desired artwork, choose from framed or unframed prints, and customize the size. Every purchase from The Shops at Mount Vernon supports the mission to preserve George Washington’s legacy.
Additional events and activities at the expansive Mount Vernon estate in November and December are listed below. Related photos for usage are available here, for attribution to the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.
- Tractor Rides with legendary Horticulture Director Dean Norton have returned for a limited time November 19-20, 22, 25-26. Seating is limited, so reserve a free seat and learn more.
- Thanksgiving Dinner is available to order to go, with a scrumptious traditional menu. Learn more.
- Holiday Entertainments on November 16 and 17 and December 21 and 22. Guests will learn about 18th-century holiday entertainments including how the Washingtons dined, chocolate making, card games, music of the enslaved with special guests SlamOne, and more. Learn more.
- Holiday Traditions on November 23 and 24 and December 28 and 29. Make a scented pomander ball, discover music of the enslaved population, attend story time, and meet Aladdin, Mount Vernon's Christmas camel. Learn more.
- Holiday Foodways on November 30 and December 1. Learn about holiday food traditions like black-eyed peas, watch staff transform cacao seeds into chocolate, and join the specialty tour, Dining with the Washingtons. Learn more.
- Educators’ Evening on December 3. Teachers are invited to a free in-person or online holiday celebration, including a performance about enslaved cook Hercules Posey, portrayed by American Historical Theater's actor-historian Keith Henley. Teachers also will experience a candlelight tour and cocktail reception. In-person is limited to 300 teachers, while online registrations are unlimited. Learn more.
- Scots at Mount Vernon on December 6 and 7. Explore Scottish foodways, learn about whiskey production, make your own tartan, and hear from Washington's Scottish Farm Manager, James Anderson, and doctor James Craik. Learn more.
- Book Talk: The Age of Revolutions on December 10. Meet historian Nathan Perl-Rosenthal as he discusses his new book, The Age of Revolutions: And the Generations Who Made It. This panoramic history of the revolutionary decades explores how progress and reaction went hand in hand. Learn more.
- Legacies Family Day on December 14 and 15. On the 225th anniversary of President Washington’s death, learn about his young life at Ferry Farm, how he shaped the new nation, his life at Mount Vernon, and how his legacies live on today. Learn more.
Read the complete listing of upcoming Mount Vernon events here. Most Mount Vernon events are free or discounted for members. Members also receive 10% off shopping and dining. Information about Mount Vernon membership is available here.
Please note that Mount Vernon has embarked upon a landmark Mansion Revitalization project. During visits, preservation teams are restoring the framing, masonry, drainage, and environmental controls of the Mansion, ensuring America’s first president’s home will be ready to receive millions of guests for generations to come. The Mansion will always remain open during this vital work, with individual rooms taken off display as work progresses. The Education Center exhibit on George Washington’s life will be off display for an extensive rebuild from July 2024 to Spring 2026. However, the expansive estate remains open to visitors, including the museum, more than a dozen historic buildings, the gardens and farm, and the Tomb.
Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States. The estate is open to visitors and includes the Mansion, a museum and education center, gardens, tombs, a working farm, a functioning distillery, and a gristmill. It also includes the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon.
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