Click here of downloadable PDF about last years Spirit of Christmas 2011

Annually we cap off our year with the Spirit of Christmas in the Mountains celebration on two weekends. Please mark your calendar to visit us Saturday, November 24th, Sunday, November 25th, Saturday, December 1st, and Sunday, December 2nd.

Check back as the date approaches for specific details of our itinerary

We thank the Harrison County Commission for their support of this celebration! In 2011 visitors were welcomed in 11 structures. We also have opportunities for guests to purchase and make their own candle as well as decorate a gingerbread man.

Beginning 3 PM each day, journey with us back in time to Christmas in the Appalachian frontier of the mid- 19th century. Festivities feature music provided by area choirs gifts for sale, weaving, wood working, blacksmithing, open hearth cooking, Belsnickeling and a traditional tree lighting.

Our traditional Christmas Tree lighting is a visitor favorite and perhaps the most inspiring of our customs of Christmas. We cap each day’s celebration at sundown with Gaily-dressed revelers lighting the hundreds of hand-dipped candles arrayed upon an outdoor evergreen.  The sight of this lighting of the candles as carolers proclaim the season will move visitors.

Another unique aspect of our celebration is Belsnickeling, a tradition practiced in certain German settlements of West Virginia, features costumed and masked mummers who will roam from house to house demanding attention and favors.  Appearances of the Der Belsnickel and his band of roving mummers, a noisy and colorful group, are throughout the day during our celebration.

Our Spirit of Christmas in the Mountains is a celebration of the historic and cultural folkways of the Scotch – Irish, English, and German settlers in West Virginia.  This celebration blends the seasonal customs of these settlers into a panorama of music, foods, and heritage skills, along with the life styles that represent the diversity of beliefs and traditions of the season.  Visitors will see a domestic setting representing family customs of ethnic origins, reflected in the preparation of special foods, making of decorations and methods of celebration.  Heritage skills are demonstrated in our community’s blacksmith shop and Old Kitchen.  Modern interpretations of heritage crafts are also for sale from local craftspeople located in several of the Fort’s buildings.

General admission is $5 with children 12   & under admitted free.

SCENES from Spirit of Christmas in the Mountains 2011