Step back in time as Hope Township presents its 5th annual Moravian Christmas with a walking lantern tour through the Historic Moravian Village. Period costumed guides lead groups through streets lined with 1,500 luminaires stopping at various historic buildings for glimpses into the Moravian way of life and the Moravian Christmas celebration.
The lantern tour was started five years ago by a group of Hope residents with the vision of people coming out to rural New Jersey to enjoy not only the scenery, but a bit of Hope’s history and true meaning of the Christmas season. This program has gone through several changes keeping the historic lantern tour and adding, food, music, a Putz display as well as a live Nativity. Visitors can also choose to visit with St. Nicholas, and the Festival of Trees and finish the day by attending a true Moravian Church service at St. John’s United Methodist Church, 354 High St., at 7:30pm. The thing that has not changed, over the years, is the fact that it is still run by volunteers, many of them the same ones that began the event 5 years ago. The proceeds from the Tour are used to fund the following year’s tour in addition to any donations collected for the event during the year.
Lantern Tours begin at the Hope Community Center at 4pm and run every 20 minutes with the last tour starting at 6pm. Tours last approximately 75 – 90 minutes each.
Tour tickets are $20 and can be purchased by email to grandma.9@hotmail.com or by phone call to 908.459.4918. Tour tickets will also be available at the door, the night of the event, for $25.
For additional information, visit www.hope250.com.
Meanwhile, visit The Festival of Trees both Saturday and Sunday. Music with Brian Kathenes and the Exit 12 Band will be on Sunday, December 12, 2021 from 1pm – 4pm, free of charge.