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Calendar of Events

Fall at Old Sturbridge Village

Fall is the time to celebrate the harvest and the foliage.
See the season's crop of squashes and pumpkins curing
in the yard and learn how early New Englanders "put up" food
to sustain themselves through the winter. The horse-powered
cider mill operates on weekends through the month of October.
Fall at Old Sturbridge Village is sponsored by

Fall - Winter - Spring - Summer

* Please Note: Events marked with a $ require an additional fee.
 

September


Family Fun Day
September 6, 2009
 

Bring the whole family and celebrate a late summer day with games and excitement for everyone! Special discounts for members of WGBH and WGBY -- bring your membership card!

 
Drummers' Call: Fife & Drum Day
September 12, 2009
 

Learn about the role these musicians played in a day in the life of an early New England soldier.

 
Crafts at Close Range  $
September 12, 2009 - September 13, 2009
Also, November 14 & 15
Fees vary by program
 

Spend some time at OSV learning a historical craft. These adult workshops vary from blacksmithing to textiles, coopering, foodways, and more. Come and try your hand at a craft and take home your finished masterpiece!  Register online for upcoming classes.

 
Take a Closer Look
September 12, 2009
Second Saturday, 10 a.m.
 

Take a Closer Look is a monthly program open to all OSV Members. Held at 10 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month, this program invites a closer look with a Village specialist.

 
The Magic of Old Sturbridge Village
OSV's 2nd Annual Gala
September 12, 2009
5:30 pm
 

The 2nd Annual Gala celebrates ‘The Magic of Old Sturbridge Village' and features an elegant plated dinner with fine wine, music, and live and silent auctions at the museum's Oliver Wight Tavern. Proceeds support the Village's museum programs brought to life by the front-line costumed staff.

 
Home School Day
September 15, 2009
 

Home School Days are a great opportunity for you and your children to gain exposure to the life and work of an early 19th-century rural New England community.

 
Members Events Garden Thyme
September 19, 2009
Third Saturday, 10 a.m.
 

Garden Thyme is a monthly program open to all OSV Members. Held the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m., this program looks at a variety of topics for the experienced and novice gardener.

 
A Year of Local Harvests: Frances Moore Lappé lecture
September 26, 2009
5:00 pm
The lecture is free and open to the public.
 

A Year of Local Harvests, a year-long series of community events with a focus on locally-grown foods, wraps up on September 26 with a lecture by internationally-recognized author Frances Moore Lappé, whose books include Diet for a Small Planet and Hope's Edge.

 
Agricultural Exhibition
September 26, 2009 - September 27, 2009
 

Experience an old-fashioned agricultural exhibition complete with demonstrations of early New England farm equipment and displays of Village-grown heirloom vegetables and other accomplishments. Plan now to join the exhibition of Visitor-grown heirloom vegetables!

 
Local Harvest Dinner
September 26, 2009
6:30 pm
 

 

October


Apple Days
October 3, 2009 - October 4, 2009
 

Join us for a weekend dedicated to apple harvest, preservation and cooking. Sponsored by Cabot Creamery Cooperative.

 
Friends' Day
October 3, 2009
 

Old Sturbridge Village's day of recognition of and appreciation for you, our Village friends and members.

 
Members-Only Apple Pie Baking Contest
October 3, 2009
 

MEMBERS! Join the fun at Old Sturbridge Village on Friends' Day. Register your apple pie now...

 
Take a Closer Look
October 10, 2009
Second Saturday, 10 a.m.
 

Take a Closer Look is a monthly program open to all OSV Members. Held at 10 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month, this program invites a closer look with a Village specialist.

 
Members Events Garden Thyme
October 17, 2009
Third Saturday, 10 a.m.
 

Garden Thyme is a monthly program open to all OSV Members. Held the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m., this program looks at a variety of topics for the experienced and novice gardener.

 
Harvest Days
October 17, 2009 - October 18, 2009
 

As the days grow cooler and shorter, come celebrate the harvest with us. Sponsored by Cabot Crearmery Cooperative.

 
Members: Join us for pumpking carving
October 20, 2009
3:00 pm-8:00 pm
 

For Members:  Join us at the Outside Inn, near the Museum Education Building, from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and help to carve ghoulish pumpkin faces on hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins! These Jack-o-Lanterns will turn up on Oct. 24 throughout the Village during Things That Go Bump in the Night.

 
Brunch with Norm Abram  $
Host of The New Yankee Workshop on PBS Television
October 24, 2009
11:00 am-1:00 pm
$65 per person; $55 for OSV Members
 

Brunch with Norm Abram at the Oliver Wight Tavern will celebrate the opening of OSV's newest exhibit:
Convenient and Fashionable: Furniture of Inland Massachusetts 1790-1830.

 
Things That Go Bump in the Night  $
October 24, 2009
5:00 pm-9:00 pm
On sale date: 9/1 for OSV Members
$12/person covers admission; for Trail of Terror, add $8 ea.
 

Old Sturbridge Village is the perfect setting for a family Halloween event.  Spooky storytelling, magic, creepy games, and trick-or-treating around the Center Village.  NEW for 2009 (for brave souls age 11 & up):  Prepare to be spooked as you venture away from the family-friendly Center Village and into the darkness of the countryside, where unnamed fears may be awakened on the Trail of Terror

 

November


Home School Day
November 4, 2009
 

Home School Days are a great opportunity for you and your children to gain exposure to the life and work of an early 19th-century rural New England community.

 
Scout Day
November 7, 2009
9:30 am-4:00 pm
 

Join us for a day of activities and amusements for Scouts (both boys and girls).

 
Old Sturbridge Village Celebrates the Nation's Veterans
November 11, 2009
9:30 am-4:00 pm
 

Old Sturbridge Village is proud to honor veterans and active duty personnel of the nation's armed forces.

 
Take a Closer Look
November 14, 2009
Second Saturday, 10 a.m.
 

Take a Closer Look is a monthly program open to all OSV Members. Held at 10 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month, this program invites a closer look with a Village specialist.

 
Members Events Garden Thyme
November 21, 2009
Third Saturday, 10 a.m.
 

Garden Thyme is a monthly program open to all OSV Members. Held the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m., this program looks at a variety of topics for the experienced and novice gardener.

 
Dinner in a Country Village $
Selected Saturday evenings from November through March, 5 to 9 p.m.
$85 per person; $75 for OSV Members
Pre-registration is required
 
Enjoy a unique opportunity to prepare and eat a meal the way early New Englanders did. The Parsonage is the setting for this Saturday-night program, where costumed interpreters oversee the preparations, but the guests do the chopping, mixing, and stirring.
 
Thanksgiving Buffet
Enjoy a 19th-century meal in the Oliver Wight Tavern
November 26, 2009 - November 27, 2009
Seatings from 11am to 4pm each day.
 

Enjoy a 19th-century Thanksgiving meal at the Oliver Wight Tavern at Old Sturbridge Village.

 
Thanksgiving Day Celebration
November 26, 2009
9:30 am-4:00 pm
 

To mark one of just a handful of holidays on the early New England calendar, Old Sturbridge Village re-creates various activities from an early New England Thanksgiving Day, including cooking at the hearth, demonstrations of 19th-century table manners, a Thanksgiving sermon, and after-dinner entertainment.

 
Members Events Thanksgiving Dinner in Bullard Tavern
November 26, 2009 - November 27, 2009
Seatings at 11am, 1:45pm, and 4:15pm each day
 

Enjoy a 19th-century Thanksgiving meal at the Bullard Tavern at Old Sturbridge Village.
Reservations required.

 
Shooting Match
November 27, 2009
9:30 am-4:00 pm
 

Come watch the Village marksmen display their musket-firing skills in friendly competition.

 
A New England Wedding
November 28, 2009
9:30 am-4:00 pm
 

Thanksgiving was a favorite time for many early 19th-century marriages, as family gathered for the holiday. Visit with the bride as she prepares for the wedding and enjoy a dramatic presentation about the couple's courtship and marriage, including their re-created wedding ceremony.

 

December


Twelve Nights of Christmas $
Each Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Dec. 3-20
$14 per person.
OSV Members: $12 per person.
Children under 3 are free.
 
Experience the magic of a candlelit Village at Christmas time and explore the history behind the traditions.  Come early for dinner at the Oliver Wight Tavern
Sponsored by Fallon Community Health Plan.
 
Brunch with Santa at the Oliver Wight Tavern  $
December 6, 2009, December 13, 2009, December 20, 2009
$18.95 per person, $16.95 for seniors (age 65 & up),
$6 for children 10 & under, free under 3
 

Visit with Santa and enjoy Sunday brunch in the Oliver Wight Tavern at the threshold of the Village.
Reservations are recommended.

 
Broadway delivers to the Oliver Wight Tavern:
Cabaret Lulu's A Holiday Celebration! Music, Magic & Comedy
 $
December 8, 2009
11:30 am
$42 per person for lunch and program (includes tax & gratuity)
 

Spend an afternoon on Broadway by way of Old Sturbridge Village. Enjoy lunch at the Oliver Wight Tavern followed by a direct-from-Broadway cabaret show entitled "Broadway Delivers...A Holiday Celebration; Music, Magic & Comedy" in the Brewer Theater.
Reservations required.

 
Big Little Holiday Party $
December 11, 2009 - 6:00 PM
 
Eat, Drink & Be Merry...the Old Sturbridge Village way!  Bring your small group to our big holiday party.
 
December School Vacation Week
December 26, 2009 - January 3, 2010
9:30 am-4:00 pm
 

Celebrate New England with the entire family during December School Vacation Week. Winter in New England brings fresh snow and days of brilliant sunshine, and Old Sturbridge Village brings cozy fires.

 
Discovery Camp: Winter Adventures in History $
December 29 & 30, 9 AM-3 PM
$125 for OSV Members; $135 for Non-Members.
 
Prepare for winter by spending time with the farmers as they split rails to repair damaged fences. Attend a school lesson. Make a seasonal punch and trifle for a New Year's ball.  Register online now.
 
Families Cook $
December 29, 2009 - 5:00 PM
$85 per person; $75 for OSV Members
 
This unique evening event offers families an opportunity to prepare -- and sit down to eat together -- a complete dinner by the hearth with the help of historically costumed staff.
Reservations required.
 

Ongoing Events


EXHIBIT: Convenient and Fashionable:
Furniture of Inland Massachusetts, 1790-1830
October 24, 2009 - December 31, 2010
 

This exhibit opening October 24 features rarely-seen pieces of early Massachusetts furniture from the OSV collection and on loan from private collectors.

 
EXHIBIT: Farm, Families and Change  $
May 23, 2009 - December 31, 2015
 

The museum's newest permanent exhibit, Farm, Families and Change, includes new displays in three of the Village's restored barns.  The exhibit addresses questions that resonate today:  "Where does our food come from?" and "Why does the New England landscape look the way it does?"

 
EXHIBIT: Too Good to Be Rags: Mended and Re-Used Textiles  $
June 13, 2009 - June 11, 2010
 

Many garments in the Old Sturbridge Village collection show evidence of patching, darning or alterations. It was often easier and more economical to make an old garment last than create a new piece of clothing. Though they may be well-worn and well-loved, these textiles tell a story through their patches, darns and alterations.

 
Friday Evening Under the Stars  $
July 10, 2009 - September 4, 2009
5:00 pm-9:00 pm
 

Dine under the stars this summer outside the Oliver Wight Tavern.

 
Friday Night Rib Room  $
at the Oliver Wight Tavern
October 2, 2009 - November 20, 2009
4:00 pm-8:00 pm
$18.95 per person, plus tax & gratuity
 

Join us for Friday Night Rib Room at the Oliver Wight Tavern. Enjoy cocktails, ale, and good friends by our crackling fire, then indulge with our prime rib dinner with dishes adapted from early New England.
Reservations are recommended.

 
Gingerbread House Contest
October 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009
 

Join the fun and start your own Christmas tradition...enter the 2nd annual Gingerbread House Contest at Old Sturbridge Village!

 
Junior Intern Program - Apply Now!
Applications now available for 2010
October 1, 2009 - January 11, 2010
 

The Junior Intern Program invites young members to learn about American history by experiencing firsthand the farm chores and favorite pastimes of early 19th-century rural New England.

 
Sunday Brunch at the Oliver Wight Tavern  $
May 17, 2009 - November 29, 2009
10:00 am-2:00 pm
$18.95 per person, $16.95 for seniors (age 65 & up),
No charge for children 10 & under
 

Enjoy Sunday brunch in the Oliver Wight Tavern at OSV's main entrance.
Reservations are recommended.

 
Sunday Brunch at the Oliver Wight Tavern  $
December 27, 2009 - March 28, 2010
10:00 am-2:00 pm
$18.95 per person, $16.95 for seniors (age 65 & up),
No charge for children 10 & under
 

Enjoy Sunday brunch in the Oliver Wight Tavern at OSV's main entrance.
Reservations are recommended.

 
The Stagecoach is Here!  $
April 4, 2009 - October 25, 2009
$3 per person, in addition to Village admission
 

Catch a ride on OSV's stagecoach, operating on weekends through November, including Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after. Get a feel for early New England travel aboard the reproduction Concord coach, then stop into the Bullard Tavern to learn about the ins and outs of getting from here to there in early New England.

 
The Stagecoach is Here!  $
October 26, 2009 - November 30, 2009
$3 per person, in addition to Village admission
 

Catch a ride on OSV's stagecoach, operating on weekends through November, including Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after. Get a feel for early New England travel aboard the reproduction Concord coach, then stop into the Bullard Tavern to learn about the ins and outs of getting from here to there in early New England.