Step Into the Village on a December Evening
Lantern light moves along the paths between the restored buildings, catching on the windows of the general store and the tinsmith's shop, and somewhere ahead a crowd is gathered around a tree waiting for the switch to be thrown. This is Historic Richmond Town in December, when the village's living history programming turns toward the holidays and the year's work of hearth cooking, craft and interpretation is opened up to visitors. Note the geography before you plan: the site is on Staten Island, not Brooklyn, so build your day around the ferry and the island's roads rather than the borough across the harbour. The season's anchors are a village-wide holiday event on December 5–6, 2026, and candlelight evening tours on December 11–12, 2026, alongside the annual Community Tree Lighting, whose date the site does not publish in advance.
Shop the Workshops and Ride Behind the Horse
The December 5–6 holiday wonderland is the fullest day out: the village fills with living history demonstrations, and the shops open for gift shopping. You can buy work and commemorative items directly from the tinsmith, the carpenter and the general store, which puts you in the unusual position of taking home something made in front of you by someone in period dress. An old-fashioned horse-drawn carriage runs through the village, Santa arrives with his helpers, and local food vendors set up for the day. Bring the family and plan to stay through the afternoon rather than treating it as a quick stop.
See 300 Years of Yuletide by Candlelight
The candlelight evening tours on December 11–12, 2026 are the season's quieter, more atmospheric offering. Guided through the village after dark, the tours trace more than 300 years of yuletide traditions on Staten Island, showing how the mix of cultures and foodways that settled here shaped a distinctly New York holiday. If you have time for only one evening event, this is the one that rewards attention: the storytelling is the point, and the candlelight is how it is told.
Watch the Hearth, the Dance and the Workshops All Year
The holiday programming sits on top of a working historic village, and several of its regular activities run through the season and beyond. Guided walking tours of the restored historic interiors, led by costumed interpreters, run from September 12 to December 20, 2026 — which means you can pair a December visit with a tour of the interiors. Hearth-cooking demonstrations use 18th- and 19th-century recipes and tools, and indigenous dance, storytelling and crafts programming is part of the site's offerings. If your interest runs to the social side, 18th-century English social dance classes run from September 16, 2026 through June 23, 2027. Group rates are available for adults and children; admission prices and ticketing details are not published on the site, so check ahead before you go.
Add an Exhibition to Your Village Day
Three exhibitions give the visit a longer arc. A vintage postcard collection is on view through April 2027, and a footwear and fashion exhibit displaying more than 25 original pairs of shoes runs through September 2027. The "Founding Principles" civics exhibit, drawn from a collection of more than 60,000 objects, opened in June 2026 for the U.S. 250th anniversary and continues through June 2029 — a natural companion to a December visit, when the village's own history is at its most animated.
Plan Around the Two Fixed Weekends
Because the tree lighting's date is not announced in advance, the reliable way to build a trip is around the two dated weekends: December 5–6 for the wonderland event and December 11–12 for the candlelight tours. Set your travel around those, allow time for the Staten Island crossing, and check the site directly for admission and ticketing before you commit. A December weekend here is a day of demonstrations, shopping from the workshops and a walk between lit windows — the kind of planning that starts with a calendar and a ferry schedule.