Press Release
December at George Washington’s Mount Vernon: New One-of-a-Kind Holiday Experiences
ALEXANDRIA, VA-George and Martha Washington were known for their festive holiday season celebrations with friends and family at their Mount Vernon estate, and that tradition continues today. This year, Mount Vernon has launched new festive holiday experiences for guests, including Winter Glow and Christmas Illuminations. As a holiday bonus, event ticket holders will receive unlimited daytime admission to Mount Vernon through February 2025.
Winter Glow is scheduled for 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. 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 December are listed below. Related photos and video footage for usage are available here, with attribution to the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.
- Holiday Entertainments on 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 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.
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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