Dallas Arboretum Debuts a Magical Christmas Village Inspired by European Christmas Markets

DALLAS, Sept. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- From November 29 to December 31, the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden debuts a brand new Christmas Village as part of Holiday at the Arboretum, noted as "Texas' Best Christmas Event," by Southern Living Magazine. Inspired by the European Christmas Markets, or Christkindlmarket, The Pauline and Austin Neuhoff Family Christmas Village is comprised of charming shops and façades that represent a quaint European hamlet. Measuring 16 to 19 feet tall, each house is themed and large enough so that several children and adults can enter at a time and experience that particular business. The interior walls of each house feature illustrations and embellishments appropriate for the kind of shop it represents. For example, the bakery murals show baked goods on shelves and the counter, and the music shop features paintings of shelves filled with instruments.

During the day, children can learn, have fun and explore these shops as they would a playhouse. At night, the Christmas Village is lit by a holiday glow of lights in trees and outlining the roof of each shop, which are all in addition to the half-million lights decorating the rest of the Arboretum. During the weekends and evenings, there are also volunteers dressed as a shopkeeper in each store, most passing out a sample of their wares, such as a piece of candy at the candy shop.

The shops planned to date include the bakery, candy shop, butcher shop, bookstore, milliner, cobbler, post office, flower shop, clock tower, music shop, carpenter, doctor's office and Santa's haus. Santa plans to stop by for visits, and there are many planned activities and festivities including local choirs performing on the stage.

The Christmas Village was a generous donation from Pauline and Austin Neuhoff as a gift to the city this holiday season and was presented to them by Dallas Arboretum President and CEO, Mary Brinegar. Brinegar remarked, "Throughout Europe, there's a natural charm in the towns, especially during the holidays. We wanted to create this type of holiday experience in oversized playhouses for families, especially children, that's educational, exciting and experiential."

Mrs. Neuhoff was involved in the approval of each design from C. Scenic and viewed the construction along the way at Mecca, which was the builder.

The Neuhoffs have roots that run deep in Dallas and are strong supporters of the community from education, the arts and places of beauty such as the Dallas Arboretum. Mrs. Neuhoff remarked, "The Arboretum is one of Dallas's greatest assets, so we hope this charming Christmas Village will bring people to the beautiful surroundings and give families a special holiday experience."

This new exhibition, which is part of Holiday at the Arboretum presented by Reliant, complements The 12 Days of Christmas, the 25-foot-tall Victorian-style gazebos that come to life, depicting scenes from the traditional carol. Each gazebo features movement to depict the different beloved characters such as the Three French Hens, Twelve Drummers Drumming and Seven Swans a Swimming, to name a few. The historic DeGolyer House is also lavishly decorated in a European style with greenery and fruit, along with a collection in each room of the items one finds at Christkindlmarkets such as angels, hand-carved wooden Santas, nativity scenes or snow globes.

More information can be found at dallasarboretum.org.

SOURCE Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden

Related Links

http://dallasarboretum.org