On a Tank of Gas: November

Community Comments

Gold Rush Communities Celebrate
Old-fashioned Holidays

By Art Garcia

If you’re dispirited by the commercialization of Christmas — with some major retailers hawking and stocking holiday seasonal wares in September — you can capture the spirit of Christmas past with a short drive to many of the small Gold Rush communities. They’re on Highway 49, along the base of the Sierra foothills, and almost all events and celebrations are free; usually, so is parking.

Nevada City and Grass Valley
At Nevada City’s (Placer County) Victorian Christmas, join holiday celebrants in visiting food and street gift vendors displaying offerings of downtown restaurants and specialty shops. There, you’ll see a nativity scene and be in the mix with costumed Victorian singers, bagpipers, a walking Christmas tree and Santa Claus. Chestnuts roast on an open fire, minstrels stroll, brass bands play and hay wagons offer rides.
    November 26 is opening night for downtown Grass Valley’s Cornish Christmas, an old-fashioned holiday street fair held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. each Friday before Christmas. The annual Holiday Open House at Empire Mine State Historic Park will be held Friday and Saturday, November 26 and 27, 11 a.m. 4 p.m.; the Christmas Craft Faire & Sandwich Shoppe at the Nevada City United Methodist Church, 408 Broad Street, will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 26, 27 and 28, 10 a.m. 4 p.m.; the Christmas Craft Faire at the Nevada City Elks Lodge on Highway 49 displays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday; and the Country Christmas Faire will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 26-28, at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, admission $3.
Continued...

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