Annual ‘Candlelight Christmas’ lights up Museum of Appalachia
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Visitors to last weekend’s Candlelight Christmas event at the Museum of Appalachia check out Dorothy McMillan’s handmade cornhusk dolls in the Holiday Market area. McMillan, seated, is accompanied by her husband, Bob. They are from LaFollette. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Maggie Carroll and Trenton Engle take a break in front of the fireplace during last Friday night’s Candlelight Christmas event at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Keeghan Norris prepares hot chocolate for Tommy and Nathan Black during the Museum of Appalachia’s Candlelight Christmas event last Friday night. - G. Chambers Williams III
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The “Tuesday Group that Plays on Monday” entertains guests with dulcimer music in the Holiday Market area at the Museum of Appalachia’s Candlelight Christmas event last weekend. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Visitors enter the Museum of Appalachia’s Candlelight Christmas event last Friday evening in Norris. - G. Chambers Williams III
Visitors crowded the Museum of Appalachia last Friday and Saturday evenings for the annual Candlelight Christmas event, which is designed to bring back the “warmth and wonder of an old-fashioned Appalachian Christmas,” according to the museum.
Held from 4-9 p.m. each day, Candlelight Christmas featured a bustling holiday marketplace with crafts and food, and self-guided tours of the museum grounds, which have been beautifully illuminated for the season.
Visitors were able to stroll through the pioneer village, where historic log structures are adorned with simple, handcrafted decorations inspired by 19th-century holiday traditions.
Exhibits also highlighted artifacts from the museum’s collection that are tied to Christmas, offering a glimpse into how early settlers celebrated the season.
Guest activities included live music, traditional dancing, wagon rides, Christmas storytelling, holiday arts and crafts for kids, and demonstrations of blacksmithing, sorghum making, apple butter churning, popcorn stringing, wildlife education, live animal meet and greets, and more.
In the main museum building and gift shop, visitors could sip sassafras tea, visit with Santa Claus, and browse the holiday market, featuring handmade gifts, baked goods, and the works and wares of local artisans.
The museum’s restaurant, also in the main building, was open throughout the event, serving hearty soups, hot meals, and other seasonal favorites.
The Museum of Appalachia, a Smithsonian affiliate, is 16 miles north of Knoxville, on Andersonville Highway (Tenn. 61) one mile east of Interstate 75, off the Clinton/Norris Exit 122.