This autumn, Lang Pioneer Village in Keene is giving visitors a completely new way to see the village — at night. The series of lantern-led tours through the village are the first of their kind in Lang’s 47 years of operation.
“It’s a unique opportunity to experience the village like you’ve never experienced it before,” explains assistant manager Laurie Siblock. “It’s a very private tour through the lesser-known stories and intriguing tales of Peterborough County.”
Beginning at twilight, visitors are greeted by Lang volunteers Julia Gregory and Audrey Caryi, who tell stories about life in the past as they lead visitors through the dark from building to building. Working without a script, Julia and Audrey tell the stories in an informative but gossipy way. Together, they guide visitors through the autumn night with only lanterns to light their way.
Audrey, who has been involved with Lang for 37 years, explains that the uniqueness of Lang Pioneer Village is that it’s a “living museum”.
“We’re a living history site, as opposed to a static museum,” she says. “We present an object and explain what it was used for within the household of the building you’re visiting. The living part of it is the personal stories — the connections to the bigger picture of your house, your family, your community, and your country. History can’t be changed, but you can look at it from different perspectives.”
“To work here, you have to have a passion for the village and for recreating the history, as well as for crafts like knitting, sewing, blacksmithing, and tinsmithing,” Julia adds. “We keep all those crafts alive. We even have a youth program where we train children how to do these things, so we’re exposing a new generation to them.”
The lantern-lit tours are just one of several unique events that Lang has planned for the coming season.
On Saturday, October 18th and Saturday, October 25th from 6 to 9 p.m., Lang will be hosting its Historic All Hallows’ Eve, an all-ages family-friendly event that celebrates the origins and traditions of Halloween — and explains how children observed it in the early 1800s.
“The origins of Halloween go back over two thousand years ago to the age of the Celts,” Laurie says. “At the end of October or beginning of November, the Celts had a huge festival called the Festival of Samhain. Samhain was the God of the Dead, and it was thought that at this time of the year the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest. Because of this idea, the occult and the supernatural became popular.”
“We give visitors a chance to learn about why we do the things we do at Halloween,” she continues. “Why do we dress up in costumes? Why do we go trick or treating? Why do we carve pumpkins and put them into windows? You’ll also hear the story about Stingy Jack, who made a deal with the devil.”
“Palm reading and predicting the future through supernatural methods became very popular at this time of the year, especially in the Victorian era when they would have parties,” Laurie explains. “To answer their most important questions, our visitors can choose their divination method at the Fitzpatrick House by the roll of a dice, a feather method, or a pendulum.”
Possibly the most unique feature of the event is that the Ontario Specialized Species Centre will be featuring a display of live bats. Visitors can get close to these traditional Halloween creatures — they’ll even be able to touch them, if they dare.
After the ghosts and ghouls of Halloween are put to rest, Lang will be preparing for its next holiday festival: Christmas by Candlelight, to be held on Saturday, December 6th and Sunday, December 7th from 5 to 9 p.m.
“It’s a lovely traditional evening event,” Laurie says. “Father Christmas will be here and we’ll have horse and wagon rides through the lantern-filled village. There’ll be Christmas caroling with live music for the carolers. On Sunday evening, there’ll be a live nativity display put on by the Keene United Church, complete with a donkey and cow and sheep.”
Although most tourists visit Lang Pioneer Village throughout the summer, the upcoming season gives visitors a reason to return to the past, again and again. For more information on all of these events, visit the Lang Pioneer Village website at www.langpioneervillage.ca.
All photos courtesy of Lang Pioneer Village except where noted.
