It’s the season to be jolly, so jingle over to the North Carolina Museum of History for our holiday offerings! Soak in the seasonal sights and sounds with fun programs and free exhibits for the young and young at heart.
Read on for all our December events. Programs are FREE unless otherwise noted. Weekend parking is free.
Museum Store Sunday
Sunday, Dec. 1, noon–5 p.m.
Support your Museum of History and celebrate Museum Store Sunday with 25 percent off most items in the Museum Shop! This global initiative kicks off our busy holiday shopping season, so join us and sample tasty North Carolina treats, enter drawings for products from your favorite vendors, and more.
Time for Tots: Holiday Lights*
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 10–10:45 a.m.
From lights to menorahs to kinaras . . . Learn what these holiday symbols mean, hear a story, and make a seasonal craft to take home.
Ages 3–5 (with adult). $5 per child; $3 for MOHA/museum members. To register, visit NCMOH-programs.com. For information, call 919-814-7046.
History Corner: Kids at Work*
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 10–11 a.m.
What’s a spooler? A sweeper? A doffer? Learn about the jobs that kids did in Piedmont textile mills and do your share of 19th-century chores.
Ages 6–9 (may be accompanied by an adult). $5 per child; $3 for MOHA/museum members. To register, visit NCMOH-programs.com. For information, call 919-814-7046.
History Hunters: Civil War ( Family and Children)
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Would you have marched away from everything you knew to fight a battle? Learn more about everyday life in the 1860s—and what it was like to have war on your doorstep—from letters and diaries of the time.
Ages 10–13. $5 per child; $3 for MOHA/museum members. To register, visit NCMOH-programs.com. For information, call 919-814-7046.
Candy Canes and Cocktails
Thursday, Dec. 5, 7–10 p.m.
Celebrate the holidays with food, drink, and a specialty “candy-cane cocktail” while you socialize and listen to Peter Lamb and the Wolves trio jazz band. The Museum Shop will also be open this evening— members get 20 percent off, and we’ll wrap your gifts as you enjoy the party!
$50 for MOHA/museum members; $60 nonmembers. Purchase tickets, or join the museum, at ncmoha.com. For information, call 919-814-7027.
Girl Scout Juniors and Cadettes: Fantastic Fibers (For children and Family)
Saturday, Dec. 7, 1–4:50 p.m.
Earn the Fantastic Fibers patch as you discover the basics of weaving and quilting through hands-on crafts. You’ll also hunt through the QuiltSpeak exhibit to learn how women’s stories can be heard through what they made!
$10 per Scout. Individually registered girls must attend with an adult. Register at nccoastalpines.org. For information, call 919-814-7046.
Music of the Carolinas: Zoe & Cloyd
Sunday, Dec. 8, 3 p.m.
Free tickets for this concert are distributed while they last beginning at 2 p.m.
This special Hanukkah performance features fiddler and vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and songwriter, instrumentalist, vocalist John Cloyd Miller, a 12th-generation North Carolinian (and grandson of pioneering bluegrass fiddler Jim Shumate).
Join MOHA before or after the concert—for half-price museum membership! In addition, enter our raffle for a prize from the Museum Shop (winner will be drawn after this month’s concert and need not be present).
Presented with PineCone and MOHA/museum members, and supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, NCArts.org, a division of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
History à la Carte: How the Candlelight Tour Saved Historic Oakwood
Wednesday, Dec. 11, noon–1 p.m.
Presenter: Matthew Brown, Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood
Brown, historian and current president of SPHO, will reveal how the annual Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour not only became an immensely popular holiday tradition for Raleigh but how it also managed to save the historic Oakwood neighborhood!
Register at NCMOH-programs.com to reserve a seat. Bring your own lunch; some beverages provided. For information, call 919-814-7032.
Hands-on History: Holiday Ornaments*
Saturday, Dec. 14, 1–3 p.m.
Drop in with your family and learn about holiday decorations from the past, then make one (or two) together to take home.
Christmas Holidays
Tuesday, December 24: Museum closed
Wednesday, December 25: Museum closed
First Night Raleigh
Tuesday, Dec. 31
Get focused on the new year with hands-on art activities at the Museum of History, live entertainment around downtown, and rides everywhere starting at 2 p.m. Then gather on Fayetteville Street (near Davie Street) by 7 p.m. or midnight for Raleigh’s annual countdown, acorn drop, and fireworks!
Presented by Artsplosure, First Night Raleigh is a joyful, family-oriented New Year’s Eve celebration of the arts.
First Night button required for entry—buy yours in the Museum Shop! For more information, visit artsplosure.org.
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019–Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020
The museum is open on New Year’s Eve, so head to space one last time in One Giant Leap: North Carolina and the Space Race before this lobby exhibit closes next week. The museum and the Museum Shop are closed on New Year’s Day.
