Lancaster County Christmas

Take some time to explore and find out how the communities that make up Lancaster County will be celebrating this year. See why the holidays in Lancaster County are truly something special.

1. Holiday Events in Lancaster

Lancaster County buzzes with excitement during the Holiday Season. Festive lights twinkle and shine as images from joyful holidays past, present, and future appear before your very eyes. Discover what makes this time of year in Lancaster County truly something special, as you create lasting holiday memories together. There's enough holiday spirit to go around!

2. Holiday Shopping

How long is your gift list this year? Lancaster County offers many venues from delightful one-of-a-kind shops selling unique wares made by local artisans to outlet shops representing nationally known brands, making it easy to find something for even that most difficult to buy for friend. Shopping this time of year is especially enjoyable! As you stroll from shop to shop, you’ll also be taking in the decorations, music, and spirit of the season. Unique gift ideas and the joy of the Holiday Season combine to make gift shopping in Lancaster County a special experience.

3. Holiday Shows & Performances

Holiday time in Lancaster County is the perfect time to catch a show! Choose from cherished classic seasonal tales or original productions bringing a new spin on holiday spirit. Music, dance, comedy, and drama can be found celebrating the season on stages large and small around the county. The pageantry and grandeur of these holiday performances are just more reason that the holidays in Lancaster County are something special.

Enjoy a few fun facts about Lancaster County holiday traditions below.

Fun Fact 1:

Early Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas traditions included dying eggs with onion skins. We now associate this practice with Easter, but it was originally a Christmas practice in south-central Pennsylvania. The decorative eggs would then be used to grace Christmas trees.

Fun Fact 2:

The traditional Pennsylvania Dutch New Year’s Day meal of pork and sauerkraut was thought to bring luck and good fortune in the coming year because, as the saying goes, “the pig roots forward while the turkey scratches backwards.”

Fun Fact 3:

The first known written mention of a Christmas tree in America is found in the 1821 diary of Matthew Zahn, who lived right here in Lancaster, PA!

Fun Fact 4:

Among the unusual items that have been dropped in various boroughs on the new year around the county are a giant pretzel, an M&M, a shoe, and a 100-lb. bologna!