A Pioneer Christmas

Provo Pioneer Village has a special Christmas event that is really fun! They celebrate A Pioneer Christmas. There is singing, dancing, and hot chocolate. The event is free with a suggested donation of $2 per person or $10 per family.

There are several things to do at this Christmas celebration. The village opens at 5 and closes at 8:00, but make sure to head to the Carriage House at 6:00 for the dancing and activities. The band includes a violin, a guitar, a mandolin, a dulcimer, and a recorder. They play fun traditional music and sing a bit as well as accompanying the dancers. We liked that they talked about the pioneers’ heritage and then played Welsh, English, and Danish songs to celebrate each of them. They even let our boys wave an English flag (we’d have taken Welsh or Danish, too!)

Mom was called upon to dance, and she had a great time dancing in two traditional Danish dances. The floor is small, but the dancing was so active that she was still in a sweat, even in the 30 degree temperature. This video has some singing, dancing, and a few other highlights from our night at Pioneer Christmas.

Since the dancers were using the blacksmith’s shop, he was set up outside. The blacksmith is really talented, and he made our boys a steel candy cane as they watched, which is very exciting for them. They all wanted to hold it while it was still warm!

All of the cabins were open for the event, and each had someone inside in pioneer clothing telling about Christmas traditions, answering questions, or teaching about the artifacts in the village. It was cool to see the village decorated for Christmas with dried fruit on the trees and paper chains and stars draped everywhere.

Father Christmas even came (he set up shop in the school) and each of our boys had a turn on his lap. They got an old-fashioned candy-cane, and quite a bit of time with him as the crowd was fairly small.

All three of our boys proclaimed A Pioneer Christmas to be one of the best events of the season– probably because it was so interactive. We love celebrating in simpler pioneer ways, too. You can find more info about dates and time on their website. Another fun Pioneer event is Candlelight Christmas at This is the Place Heritage Park.