Annual event provides attendees the experience of an 1840s fur trade Christmas
VANCOUVER — Volunteers provided area residents and other visitors with the sights and sounds of an 1840s fur trade Christmas Saturday at the annual Christmas at Fort Vancouver.
Visitors to Saturday’s event were able to hear traditional caroling by the Madrigal Singers while they enjoyed holiday wassail, games, music demonstrations and dancing. It was all reminiscent of the holiday, which was one of the few times a year the Hudson’s Bay Company granted leave to all employees in the 1840s. During that era, many spent this respite outdoors hunting or fishing and all would celebrate together by dining and dancing.
Saturday’s event included several ongoing Victorian-era craft activities, with materials provided to make wooden toy tops, wreaths, and potpourri ornaments to take home.
Christmas at Fort Vancouver was held at the reconstructed Fort Vancouver near downtown Vancouver.
A Celebration of the Birds was also held nearby at Fort Vancouver Visitor Center. That event featured special activities for children, including building wooden bird feeders.
The Pearson Air Museum was closed on Dec. 14 in observance of the holiday celebration. The air museum will resume normal hours of operation on Tue., Dec. 17.
