WINTERTHUR, DELAWARE (October 27, 2025)—Dazzling decorations and imaginative holiday trees inspired by poems, traditional tales, and children’s books will delight visitors to Yuletide at Winterthur, on view November 22–January 4. During this year’s Yuletide season, Winterthur will offer fun for all ages, including a Holiday Market on November 22, magical garden displays, a large gingerbread replica of the historic train station on the estate, and extended hours on select Friday and Saturday evenings for tours, workshops, live music, shopping, and dining.
Guests will encounter enchanting displays based on A Visit from Saint Nicholas, Alice in Wonderland, C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and other literary classics.
Outside decorations will feature festive lights, antique sleighs, holiday trees suspended above the Reflecting Pool and the front pond, and vignettes inspired by the 1911 novel The Secret Garden. Other nods to literary works include a feast table display and champagne tower in the historic Greenhouse area, and a tree celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in the Visitor Center.
A Storybook Holiday
Decorated rooms on the self-guided museum tour will feature holiday trees paired with the literary works that inspired them, theatrical props, and museum and library objects, such as Victorian combs, pocket watches, and historic toys, which will bring the stories to life.
In addition, Delaware Shakespeare actors have recorded excerpts from several of the works that served as inspiration for a literary Yuletide, including Macbeth, The Great Gatsby, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Phillis Wheatley’s poems “Hymn to the Morning” and “Hymn to the Evening.”
The Du Pont Dining Room will feature a display inspired by A Christmas Carol. In an opulent scene from the story, Ebenezer Scrooge’s boss, Old Fezziwig, hosts a grand Christmas party for his friends, family, and employees. Delaware Shakespeare recorded a soundscape that will set the mood for the party scene and dining room decor.
In one room, guests will peer through a rendering of an open wardrobe to see the holiday tree inspired by The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The life-sized illustration is based on a wardrobe from the museum’s renowned furniture collection. With its doors flung open in quiet invitation, the vignette evokes the classic moment when the character Lucy Pevensie first catches a glimpse of another world shimmering beyond.
A purple tree in the Port Royal Entrance Hall will evoke “The Purple Cow” poem by Gelett Burgess. The literary selection is a nod to Winterthur’s early days as a farm, where founder Henry Francis du Pont bred prized Holstein Friesian dairy cattle.
While the poem, published in 1895, begins “I never saw a Purple Cow …,” visitors will indeed see a life-sized purple cow statue in the entrance hall, reflecting the whimsical spirit of Burgess’s famous poem.
As a special treat from 3:00–5:00 pm pm on November 22 during Holiday Market and Yuletide’s opening day, Winterthur’s 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Ascot Tourer will be parked outside the Port Royal Entrance Hall. Just inside, in the exquisite Port Royal Parlor, there will be a holiday tree that pays tribute to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 Jazz-Age classic novel, The Great Gatsby.
Though never as raucous as the parties thrown by Jay Gatsby, a weekend at Winterthur in its heyday was always an affair to remember. During its peak entertainment era, guests would arrive at Winterthur’s Port Royal entrance in their smartly appointed vehicles.
Les Fleurs Animées, a book of illustrations from Winterthur Library’s rare book collection that depicts flowers personified as women, also inspired a Yuletide tree design. Winterthur owns two copies of the book published in the mid-1800s, an original single-volume French edition and a two-volume English translation bound with decorative elements in a striking emerald green on the cover. The vibrant color indicates the use of a pigment historically known to contain arsenic, and these works have become known as poison books. The books will be displayed with the tree in the Empire Parlor.
Other literary works that will be brought to life inside the museum include Gift of the Magi, The Black Tulip, Moby Dick, the life and works of Edith Wharton, including an 1897 edition of Decoration of Houses, and William Wordsworth’s poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.”
Dried-Flower Tree Anchors Yuletide Display in Museum Conservatory
The iconic Dried-Flower Tree, a focal point of Yuletide at Winterthur, will once again be on display in the soaring, glass-walled Conservatory at the museum entrance. A Winterthur tradition since 1985, the tree is a design masterpiece that showcases over 60 kinds of dried flowers artfully arranged into an unforgettable holiday display.
Colorful flowers have always been a vital part of Winterthur, both inside and out. Throughout the year, flowers are collected from across the estate and, before they wilt, are preserved and dried by members of the floral design team.
Holiday Market at Winterthur on Yuletide Opening Day, November 22
A Holiday Market, with more than 50 artisans selling hand-crafted goods, artworks, festive décor, and specialty gift items, takes place on the opening day of Yuletide. Visitors can enjoy live music, roast marshmallows by firepits, participate in a wine-tasting workshop, sip hot drinks, and say hello to Santa Claus, who will stroll throughout the market to spread holiday cheer.
Guests can also shop in the Museum Store for all those on their gift list. The store carries products for children, garden lovers, jewelry, decorative objects, and specialty items like handmade soaps, honey made from Winterthur’s bees, and wood products made from fallen trees on the estate.
Annual Gingerbread Display Harkens to Winterthur’s Railroad Roots
Guests will marvel at a grand gingerbread replica of the Winterthur Train Station (c. 1890), adding a sweet and whimsical touch to the festivities, along with a magical dollhouse and an interactive toy train display.
For the fourth year, Bredenbeck’s Bakery & Ice Cream Parlor in Philadelphia will create Winterthur’s Yuletide gingerbread display. The family-run business has been in operation for over a century.
The Winterthur Train Station gingerbread replica will be Bredenbeck’s biggest challenge yet. It took a team of six people more than 100 hours (102 to be exact!) to mix, bake, and decorate the train station. Made with 18 pounds of butter and 62 pounds of sugar, the finished creation, including a special support board, weighs 196.5 pounds.
More for the Train Lovers
Winterthur’s festive toy train display in Brown Horticulture Learning Center will showcase Lionel and other standard gauge trains Tuesdays through Sundays, December 21–December 31. On December 27, members of the Standard Gauge Module Association will give a behind-the-scenes look into how this toy train setup came to life, how they got started in toy train collecting, and the adventures they’ve had in exhibiting their display.
Musical and Theatrical Performances
Yuletide at Winterthur guests can also enjoy musical and theatrical performances, including Gerald Charles Dickens performing A Christmas Carol December 10 and 11 as part of his U.S. farewell tour. 2025 marks his last year performing in the country. Using his own adaptation of his great-great-grandfather Charles Dickens’s classic Christmas tale, Gerald Dickens plays over 30 characters using vocal and physical talents to bring each scene vividly to life.
Experience an unforgettable evening of music surrounded by the warm glow of hundreds of flickering candles during an evening concert wtith OperaDelaware on December 20. Talented vocalists will sing holiday classics like “O Holy Night” and “White Christmas,” along with standards like “Strangers in the Night” and “Some Enchanted Evening” and some of opera’s most beloved songs like “Nessun dorma” and “O mio babbino caro.”
Festive Events and Family Fun
Yuletide offers something for every age and interest, from hands-on craft activities to special performances and shopping experiences:
- An Evening with Silver Oak Winery’s Winemaker – December 3
- Meet and Greet with Santa Claus – December 5
- Latin American Cacao’s Living Legacy – December 6
- Today’s Parisian Chocolate Scene – December 13
- Brunch with Santa Claus & Tram Rides to Historic Train Station – December 13, 14, 20 & 21
- Copper Earring-Making Workshop – December 19
- Crepe Paper Orchids Workshop – December 20
- Yuletide Card Making, Paper Doll Making Workshops, Library Open Houses, and more!
Plan Your Visit
Don’t forget to enjoy Winterthur’s regular exhibitions, library, and garden programs during Yuletide, including a Director’s Garden Walk to learn about conifers on December 13 and a New Year’s Day Hike on January 1, where estate guides will lead guests on a peaceful, family-friendly hike through scenic meadows, woodlands, and trails.
Yuletide runs November 22, 2025, through January 4, 2026, Tuesdays through Sundays, 10:00 am–5:00 pm.Extended hours are until 8:00 pm on November 28 and December 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, and 20. Enjoy holiday musical performances, and the café will serve seasonal fare, specialty cocktails, and s’mores kits for the outdoor firepits for extended hours.
No evening hours November 22, 29, or December 26.
Closed on Mondays, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Open 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on Christmas Eve.
For tickets, detailed event schedules, and more, visit: winterthur.org/Yuletide
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About Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Winterthur—known worldwide for its preeminent collection of American decorative arts, naturalistic garden, and research library for the study of American art and material culture—offers a variety of tours, exhibitions, programs, and activities throughout the year. Admission includes a self-paced house tour, exhibitions, a narrated tram ride (weather and space permitting), and the Winterthur Garden.
Winterthur is located on Route 52, six miles northwest of Wilmington, Del., and five miles south of U.S. Route 1. Winterthur is committed to accessible programming for all. For information, including special services, call 800.448.3883 or visit winterthur.org. Winterthur is closed seasonally from early January through late February.
