Experience an 1880s Christmas with Victorian Village by Candlelight on Dec. 1 at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village.

Tickets are $15 per person and are currently available in the Museum’s Country Store. Tickets must be pre-purchased and will not be sold on the day of the event.  Only 100 tickets are available.  Visitors will be divided into five groups of 20 embarking at 30-minute intervals with the first group leaving at 5:30 p.m. and the last group at 7:30 p.m. This event requires walking for approximately one-half mile on unpaved terrain by lantern light.

“Christmas spirit will be in full swing during Victorian Village by Candlelight,” Museum Director Garrett Boone said.  “Guests will experience Christmas Eve scenes from a South Georgia of the past when electricity was a luxury, gifts were often hand-made, and Christmas Eve was spent cooking delicious treats on the open hearth of the fireplace.”

Boone said the adventure begins with a ride from the Country Store to the Village on open-air train cars pulled by the Museum’s 1917 Vulcan steam engine. The glowing, lantern-lit Historic Village will warmly welcome guests to enjoy the holiday celebration. The first stop on the hour-long tour will be the Clyatt Cabin, where Father Christmas and Perchta, the Christmas witch, will greet guests with a folktale.

As guests follow the lantern-lit path, they will witness scenes of two different Wiregrass Georgia families in the late 19th century celebrating the holiday season.  The Tift House will depict the Christmas of an affluent family and at the Knight Cabin, guests can see what a typical Christmas might have been like for a sharecropper and his family.   

A stop at the Cravey Cabin will follow, where Pinebark Stew and cornbread will be enjoyed by the guests before they head to the bonfire for a steaming hot cup of apple cider. The train will then depart to take visitors back to the Country Store.  Attendees will not leave the event empty handed as each guest will receive a keepsake ornament and a guidebook to remember the evening.

For ticket information on this event, interested persons can contact the Country Store at (229) 391-5205.

The Museum, Historic Village, and Gallery will be closed for the holiday season from Dec. 24, 2018 - Jan. 1, 2019.  The Country Store and all administrative offices will also be closed from Dec. 24, 2018-Jan. 1, 2019.  All except the Historic Village will reopen on Jan. 2, 2019.

For the month of January, hours of operation will change, and admission to the site will be reduced.  The Museum and Gallery only will be open Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.  Reduced admission is $4 for adults, seniors, and children 5-16 years of age.  Children under five will enjoy free admission.

On Saturdays in January, the Museum, Gallery, Historic Village, and the Vulcan Steam Train will be open from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.  Admission is $10 for adults; $8 for seniors (ages 55 and over); $5 for children 5-16 years of age; and free for children four and under.  The Country Store will be open for shopping Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Regular admission will begin again in February.  General admission to the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village on Tuesday-Friday is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors (age 55 and over), $4 for children 5-16 years of age, and free for children four and under.  Saturday admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (age 55 and over), $5 for children 5-16 years of age, and free for children four and under.