by Noella Noelophile®
(Photograph courtesy of Columbia State Historic Park.)
This weekend, Columbia State Historic Park celebrates Christmas with three special events.
Saturday, December 9th, and Sunday, December 10th, some of the “ole’ time miners” would like to have you join them for “A Miners Christmas“.
This is a re-enactment of what Christmas in a Gold Rush town may have been like in the 1850’s.
Old-fashioned decorations will adorn the historic buildings of Columbia’s Main Street. Hot cider, coffee and roasted chestnuts (on an open fire, of course!) will be available. Visitors will get an opportunity to make a variety of old-fashioned crafts. And some of the “miners” will entertain guests with Christmas stories.
“A Miners’ Christmas” is a free, family-friendly event, happening from noon to 3 pm, both this Saturday and Sunday, December 9th and 10th, and the following weekend, December 16th and 17th, on Main Street in Columbia.
(Photo courtesy of Columbia State Historic Park, and used with permission.)
Then, on Sunday morning, December 10th, at 11, there’s going to be a parade!
Specifically, this is the “Columbia All Equestrian Parade”, on Main Street.
Admission is free, and if you can, please consider bringing an unwrapped toy for the toy drive, benefitting ATTCAA’s Housing Families Program.
(Photograph courtesy of Columbia State Historic Park)
And get ready to enjoy the show, as equestrian riders, drivers and mounted groups go through their paces! This is a judged parade, open to all ages, and participants can accumulate award points towards the California State Horsemen’s Association Parade High Point Program.
Columbia’s All Equestrian Parade begins at 11:00, Sunday morning, December 10th, on Columbia’s Main Street. Admission is free.
(Royalty-free image by Stefan Nyffenegger from Pixabay.)
Finally, if you’re in town on Sunday evening, December 10th, be sure to stay.
That’s the evening of Columbia’s Las Posadas Nativity Procession!
This Spanish Christmas tradition gets an 1850s update, as the people of Columbia re-enact the Bible story of Mary and Joseph, and their search for lodgings in Bethlehem.
2023 marks the forty-year anniversary of Columbia’s Las Posadas procession, which began in 1983.
(Royalty-free image by G.C. from Pixabay.)
Besides Mary and Joseph with their donkey, characters in Columbia’s re-enactment include the innkeeper, tax collector, three Wise Men and miners, musicians and other costumed townspeople.
Join in the festivity, as onlookers hold candles and sing Christmas carols on Main Street, which is decorated for Christmas with luminarias lighting the way for the procession.