What could be more Americana than visiting the place where so many of your favorite Christmas traditions began? And it's home to the No. 1 holiday attraction in Pennsylvania - a magical village twinkling with thousands of lights! In Pennsylvania's Americana Region, celebrate Christmas at the source - thanks to our Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors!
The Germans, later known as the PA Dutch, began settling in Pennsylvania's Americana Region in the early 1700s and brought holiday customs to the New World that have been celebrated for generations. Gingerbread houses, nativity scenes, Moravian stars, Nutcracker figures, colored lights, Advent calendars, baking molds, candles, toys, Christmas trees, and Christkindlmarkts, holiday markets that run throughout Advent, can all be credited to our German ancestors. Delicious holiday cakes and cookies, like Christmas Stollen, and buttery sand tarts, can trace their roots to the PA Dutch.
With all these holiday customs and traditions, Pennsylvania's Americana Region is brimming with holiday cheer. Why not take a merry little road trip and come celebrate the season with us? Come marvel at our incredible light displays. Peek inside beautifully decorated homes on holiday house tours. Enjoy scrumptious holiday fare made from age-old recipes. Take in holiday shows, and by all means, cross a few names off your gift lists at wonderful local shops, and seasonal fairs and festivals.
Here are just a few of the ways you can celebrate christmas in Pennsylvania's Americana Region:
- Koziar's Christmas Village
- Christmas on the Farm
- Christkindlmarkt at the Reading Liederkranz
- Murdough's Christmas Barn
- Reading Centre Park Christmas House Tour
- Reading's Christmas on the Mountain
- Holiday Lights at Gring's Mill
- Colebrookdale Railroad
For great music and theater events, see our calendar of events