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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
PASSPORT TO HISTORY WEEKENDS – 2025
Free Admission & Activities at Historic Sites in 9 Counties
PASSPORT TO HISTORY – WINTER WEEKEND
COMING UP ON JANUARY 25 & 26
LEHIGH VALLEY (January 8, 2025) – NEW in 2025! Our popular annual Passport to History event will be held on quarterly weekends throughout the year. As our number of partner sites grows, we want to give the community an opportunity to enjoy four weekends (and four seasons) of old-fashioned fun in winter, spring, summer, and fall.
Historic sites in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding counties invite you to step back in time with FREE admission, tours, activities, and programs for visitors of all ages.
This year’s events will be held on the fourth weekend of the following months:
Saturday, January 25 & Sunday, January 26
Spring
Friday, March 21, Saturday, March 22, & Sunday, March 23
Summer
Saturday, June 28 & Sunday, June 29
Fall
Friday, September 26, Saturday, September 27, & Sunday, September 28
What will visitors discover?
- Local history right around the corner: During our winter weekend, explore partner sites in Berks, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties.
- Museums, libraries, & special exhibitions
- Historic sites including homesteads, colonial taverns, farms, mills and tileworks, schools, gardens, 18th-century mansions, and cemeteries.
- Learn about the people, cultures, events, and innovations that shaped our community, from the original Native American inhabitants to modern day.
- Living history re-enactments and heritage craft & skill demonstrations
- Farm stands, flea markets, and gift shops
- For children and families: old-fashioned games, crafts, stories, scavenger hunts, farm chores, interactive exhibitions, and activities.
Join us for this celebration of the places, stories, and community that bring local history to life!
“I am excited about the changes we’re making to this beloved annual event,” says Megan van Ravenswaay, Executive Director of Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society and the Sigal Museum. “Our region is rich in history, art, and culture, and we are proud to provide free access to all on special weekends throughout the year.”
“As an organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the four counties of Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, and Montgomery, we’ve found this event to be a great way for people to get to know the history of their community,” notes Beth Twiss Houting, Executive Director of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center.
Susan Ellis, Executive Director of Moravian Historical Society, urges families to “get out and explore – even during the winter months. Our January weekend features hands-on family activities, exhibitions and programs on the early days of radio, Moravian pleasure gardens, and photographs of the last operating anthracite mine in Wales. There will be a scavenger hunt, model trains running, and a cemetery tour that shares the history of Craig’s Scotch-Irish Settlement, the oldest permanent settlement in the Lehigh Valley. There is so much to see and learn.”
WAYS TO ENJOY PASSPORT TO HISTORY MONTH
- Visit old favorites or new-to-you sites in your town or region.
- Venture out of town. Use the maps and list of activities on the Passport to History website to plot a course, and make a day of it.
- Follow your interests: What time periods or events in American history interest you? Do you enjoy touring historic buildings and gardens? What kinds of history do you enjoy (e.g., military history, industrial history, Native American history, fraktur or textiles)? Would you like to see living history or heritage skill demonstrations? Our partner sites appeal to a range of interests.
- Take in a special exhibition at one of our partner museums or historical societies.
- Check the list of family-friendly activities on the Passport to History website and plan a day out with the kids.
- Try something different. Every site has welcoming staff and volunteers eager to share our community history. Visitors will find fascinating stories and people wherever they go.
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