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Get Ready for Six Weeks of Christmas
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‘Christmas Round Bardstown’ hosts 25 events Thanksgiving to New Year’s
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The fun begins with the Downtown Holiday Preview on Nov. 7-9 and doesn’t let up until Dec. 31 with My Old Kentucky Dinner Train’s New Year’s Eve Excursion.
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‘Christmas Round Bardstown’
The Christmas season officially kicks off on Fri., Nov. 28, with PNC Bank’s Light Up Bardstown and the lighting of the official Christmas tree accompanied by music, refreshments, extended shopping hours and the arrival of Santa Claus. That same night, My Old Kentucky Home opens its historic doors for guided Candlelight Tours followed by bourbon barrel cake, cookies and hot cider. (Visit Bardstown’s Calendar of Events for additional Candlelight Tour dates.) On Dec. 13, Bardstown’s Christmas Tour of Homes, including the My Old Kentucky Home Candlelight Tour, takes place.

Because Bardstown is the Bourbon Capital of the World, some of the world’s most famous distilleries also host candlelight tours. Barton 1792 Distillery’s “Making Spirits Bright By Lantern Light” tours takes place from 7-9 p.m. on Nov. 28 and 29. Evening tours are offered through the charming 1850s Victorian village at Maker’s Mark Distillery on Dec. 6 and 13.

Santa Claus visits the Old Nelson County Courthouse on Saturdays. Catch him also at the Kentucky Railway Museum for one of its many Santa Express excursions or aboard My Old Kentucky Dinner Train for one of its North Pole Express runs. Or join the crowd for the Bardstown-Nelson County Christmas Parade at 6 p.m. on Dec. 4 to see the arrival of the Jolliest Elf himself.

Find out Santa’s favorite food and how he knows who’s naughty and nice when Bardstown Community Theatre presents “Ho Ho Ho The Santa Claus Chronicles.” Set at the North Pole a few days before Christmas, the show will introduce the elves – Eeny, Meeny, Miney and Sol – and a mystery involving Mrs. Claus’ disappearance. Show days are Dec. 19, 20 and 21.

Meet Mrs. Julia Beckham (the only woman in the world to be the mother, sister and daughter of a governor) over Victorian Christmas Tea at historic Wickland Estate on Dec. 13 and 14. Join actors and animals in downtown Bardstown on Dec. 19-21 as they bring the story of the Nativity to life.

Shopping round Bardstown
Bring your holiday gift list for one-of-a-kind Christmas shopping, Bardstown-style. With 29 independently-owned shops and boutiques crowding Court Square, easy-to-get-to and one-of-a-kind museums with equally unique gift shops, and five distilleries – each with a gift shop as distinctive as the bourbon they produce – you can stroll and browse and buy the perfect gift for everyone on your list. Get some fun and different gift ideas here.

Where sugarplums dance
There is enough holiday activity in Bardstown to fill a weekend getaway. Book one of Bardstown’s 17 bed and breakfast inns, including the Jailer’s Inn, which hosts a Dec. 4 holiday Open House; Beautiful Dreamer, which overlooks My Old Kentucky Home; and the new Bourbon Manor, a 10-room inn with bourbon-inspired full country gourmet breakfasts and a Bourbon Bar serving tapas and dessert.

See all the holiday events planned during “Christmas Round Bardstown” here. Book your overnight stay as soon as possible as Bardstown’s hotels and inns fill up quickly for this six-week long celebration. For more information, contact the Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission at 800-638-4877, www.VisitBardstown.com.

Media Contact:
Dawn Przystal, 800-638-4877 x 114
Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission

Photo: A visit with Santa during “Christmas Round Bardstown” events.
Credit: Kentucky Railway Museum

Hi- and Low-Res photos available.

About Bardstown, KY
Located in the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country and situated at the trailhead of the famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, Bardstown is more familiarly known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” It is home to five distilleries, including Barton 1792 and Willett Distillery, and these three Kentucky Bourbon Trail distilleries: Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam. Major attractions include the outdoor musical, “The Stephen Foster Story,” My Old Kentucky Home State Park, the highly regarded Civil War Museum of the Western Theatre, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, The Kentucky Railway Museum and Whisky Magazine’s Visitor Attraction of the Year – the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. Additionally, Bardstown has four 18-hole golf courses, three wineries, two haunted tours and numerous religious attractions. Fodor picked Bardstown as one of “America’s Best Small Towns.” It was selected the “Most Beautiful Small Town in America” in the Rand McNally/USA Today 2012 “Best of the Road” contest and landed in the top 20 of “America’s Favorite Towns” by Travel + Leisure – which also recognized Bardstown as having one of “America’s Most Beautiful Town Squares.” In 2013, Bardstown was designated a certified Kentucky Cultural District, one of only six Kentucky cities to achieve this honor. www.facebook.com/BardstownKY