The simple beauty of a colonial Christmas will be presented at the annual Christmas Candlelight Tours at the 1719 Hans Herr House. On Friday and Saturday evenings, December 5 & 6, 2008, the Herr House will be glowing with candlelight, decorated with fresh greens and holly, and open to the public for the most unique tour of the season. The hour-long tours of the house begin at 6 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday. The last tour departs at 8:30 p.m. each evening. No reservations are required.

The tour begins in the Faith & Furrow building with live music and several demonstration.  Guests are then invited to the cellar of the 1719 Hans Herr House.

As guests move through each room of the Herr House, they will see many old-time activities being demonstrated by interpreters in colonial-era clothing. The tour will begin in the arched stone cellar of the house, where food stuffs were stored and preserved in the early days of the Herr family who were among the first Europeans to settle on the "western frontier of Pennsylvania." The kitchen, just above the cellar, will be filled with the aroma of traditional Pennsylvania German dishes, cooked on the raised hearth. Visitors will have an opportunity to sample the food as it is prepared.

On the second floor of the house the visitor will be offered two special exhibits. The tour will also visit the candle-lit kammer, or chamber, of Christian and Anna Herr before concluding in the main room of the house, or Stube. There, visitors will experience an annual feature, the reading of the biblical Christmas story in German from the Gospel of Luke, and the singing of a Christmas carol.

The grounds of the Herr House are also full of activity during Christmas Candlelight Tours. Carolers will be singing around a bonfire, and visitors may join in, or just listen while enjoying free hot cider and pretzels. The exhibit barn "Faith and Furrow" will be open, with several special Pennsylvania German antiques on display.

The blacksmith shop will be in operation. The gift shop will be open for business, and visitors may shop for a unique Christmas gift while listening to traditional Christmas music..

Admission to Christmas Candlelight Tours is $6.00 for adults, $3.00 for children ages 7-12.