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Christmas isn’t over yet! Old Christmas, which was a holiday celebrated by colonial ancestors, will be celebrated Saturday, Jan. 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, and Sunday, Jan. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Fort Watauga at Sycamore Shoals State Park.
During colonial times Christmas was celebrated as a 12-day holiday with many traditions and customs. Does The Twelve Days of Christmas sound familiar?
The Washington County Militia will celebrate Old Christmas this weekend, and the public is invited. As you walk through the gates of Fort Watauga you will travel back in time to an 18th century Old Christmas “Jollification.” Each cabin in the fort will be the setting of Christmas, New Year, and 12th Night traditions as celebrated by the settlers of different cultures on the colonial frontier. Many of today’s modern Christmas customs are taken from centuries old practices such as English Christmas Guns, the Irish Holly Wreath, the German Tannenbaum, Scottish First Footing, and the Dutch Sinterklaas.
The public is invited to the Old Christmas celebration at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park for a fun, entertaining, and educational family outing. It’s an event that is sure to become a tradition with your family year after year.
Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park is located at 1651 W. Elk Avenue in Elizabethton.