Christmas in the Park
Thursday, December 2, 2021
6:15 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
Each year, on the first Thursday of December, the Morse Museum helps launch the holiday season in Winter Park when it lights up Tiffany windows in Central Park and presents the Bach Festival Choir and Brass Ensemble in concert. This December is the 43rd annual celebration of Christmas in the Park.
Christmas in the Park was started by Hugh and Jeannette McKean, the Morse Museum’s benefactors, in 1979 as a way to share a part of their rare Tiffany collection with the public in an informal setting. Today, the Morse and the City of Winter Park co-sponsor the event.
43rd year of the event
For the 43rd year of the event, the Morse will again install its windows and present the Bach Festival Society Choir and Brass Ensemble in concert. The city will oversee arrangements for park use, security, crowd management, traffic control, and road closures.
Of the nine windows displayed at Christmas in the Park, eight are memorials with religious themes designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany’s firm for installation in the chapel at the Association for the Relief of Respectable, Aged, Indigent Females (1814–1974) in New York City.
The ninth window, Tiffany Studios’ Christmas Eve, features a figure resembling Father Christmas holding the Christ child. The window’s design is based on a depiction of St. Nicholas by Thomas Nast (1840–1902), the famous political cartoonist. Following Christmas in the Park, the Christmas Eve window can be viewed throughout December at the Morse.
Price:
Free.
Time:
The event begins at 6:15 p.m. when the signal is given to turn on the window lights. The concert concludes around 8:00 p.m., and the windows remain lighted until 8:30 p.m.
Where:
The event is held in the northern section of Central Park—about a block from the Museum—near the intersection of Garfield and Park avenues.
Parking:
Parking is available on the street, in the Museum’s parking lot, and in various City of Winter Park lots. A printable map is available for download from the City website.
Seating:
Bring your own seating if you need it. Blankets and lawn chairs may be set up beginning at 4:00 p.m. after the windows are installed. Tables are not allowed.
The Morse Museum houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), including the chapel interior he designed for the 1893 World’s Columbia Exposition in Chicago and art and architectural elements from his Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall. The Morse is owned and operated by the Charles Hosmer Morse Foundation. The Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation provides additional support.
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