The days are getting shorter, but Shelburne Museum‘s annual holiday lights spectacular is getting longer — and brighter. Winter Lights extends its run this year, presenting new installations alongside old favorites for six and a half weeks.
The event debuted in 2021 and has grown each year since. In 2023, the extravaganza attracted more than 50,000 visitors. This year’s fourth annual edition will run for 38 nights, starting this Thursday, November 21, and continuing through Sunday, January 5.
Hundreds of thousands of lights will illuminate more than half of the museum’s 45 acres, including trees, the lighthouse, the covered bridge and many other landmarks. The 220-foot steamboat Ticonderoga will glow as it appears to float on an elevated sea of light. Beach Woods will transform into an enchanted forest, and colorful LED-bedecked butterflies will delight visitors to Bostwick Garden.
New this year is a whimsical display of circus performers under a big top of lights. Several of the characters — inspired by circus posters in the museum’s collection — will come alive via a virtual reality animation video created by Burlington motion designer, animator and illustrator Devin Renca. Using Vimeo’s app, viewers can scan a QR code to watch clowns, dogs and a horse perform. They can look around the circus ring by dragging their fingers across the screen.
Sea creatures near the Ticonderoga will seem to swim the same way. The mermaid, dolphinfish and Pisces sculptures were modeled after weather vanes at the museum. A third QR code at Bostwick Garden will prompt flowers to bloom and butterflies to flit about.
While recorded music has always added ambience to the winter wonderland, live entertainment — scheduled for most weekends — is new this year. The Randal Pierce Jazz Trio, vocal ensembles from Lyric Theatre, a cappella groups from the University of Vermont and Middlebury College, and harpist-vocalist Marie Hamilton are among the performers.
Also new: a partnership with the Town of Shelburne to extend the light show along Route 7 from the museum into Shelburne Village, creating a corridor of light spilling into a holiday village. “We hope it creates a lot of energy and fun around coming into Shelburne and experiencing lights,” Shelburne Museum marketing and communications director Leslie Wright said. Twenty-six area merchants and six Burlington hotels will offer specials to Winter Lights ticket holders.
Ten dates are designated drive-around evenings, when the light show will be closed to pedestrians and open to anyone who wants to tour by car. Sensory-friendly evenings, on Monday, December 9, and Monday, December 16, offer guests smaller crowds and support from museum educators.
The Ice Bar — a food-and-beverage event open to adults 21 and over — returns on Friday, December 6. Admission includes music and food and drink tokens. Museum exhibits remain closed, but the Weathervane Café will be open on walk-through Winter Lights evenings. Thursdays through Sundays, the museum store will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the museum store at Diamond Barn from 4:30 to 8 p.m.
As they have each of the past four years, museum staffers worked with professionals from New Hampshire-based New England Holiday Light to design the light display. Crews started stringing lights in August. Installation began in earnest in October, just after the museum closed for the season. Fifteen people from the holiday light company worked for 10 days straight. Winter Lights is the largest installation the 7-year-old company creates, according to cofounder Doran Dal Pra. “It’s the highlight of the season,” he said. “We love this project.”
The original print version of this article was headlined “Shelburne Museum Expands Winter Lights With New Installations, More Dates”
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2024.
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