Do you traditionally spend Christmas at home? Or are you the type who prefers to head to a tropical location, or to ski country for the holidays. If you categorize yourself as one of the latter, perhaps you will consider spending next Christmas at one of the country’s most iconic destinations–California’s Yosemite National Park.
Each year hundreds of families make visiting the park at Christmas time a family tradition, but they do so not simply because it’s one of the most peaceful and picturesque places on Earth, but also to take in a special holiday event—“The Bracebridge Dinner.”
Eight decades ago world-renown photographer Ansel Adams wrote and set to music a play he titled: “The Bracebridge Dinner.” Now, each year eight performances are staged in the park’s Ahwahnee Hotel.
The play tells an elaborate Christmas story about a fictional English squire flying in from around the world to eat a sumptuous eight-course meal. (The play’s main character is based loosely on a character in a short story by Washington Irving, author of “Rip Van Winkle.”) But, the fact I find most interesting is that the park’s electricians, payroll managers, and rangers are the ones who make up the pageant’s Renaissance-era ensemble cast. In fact, generations of park employees and Yosemite locals have grown up playing characters in the play.
The play was originally conceived in the 1920s as a ploy to lure travelers to the park in wintertime. Park staff members say until 2002, tickets to the performance were distributed by lottery, with as many as 60,000 people annually applying for 2,000 available spots. Today the event has expanded to allow open ticketing, and audiences have filled the 350 available seats each night, despite the $345 price tag. This season’s performances run through December 26th.
Fans of Adams know how much he loved Yosemite and park staff say the Bracebridge (along with his spectacular photographs) was one of the ways he was able to bring that out. If your ideal winter vacation includes taking in a historic play in the midst of breathtaking scenery you should really consider Christmas at Yosemite.
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