Fall harvest weekend at Bellevue House National Historic Site

Parks Canada offers family fun and date night ideas to welcome autumn

September 18, 2017                   Kingston, Ontario                            Parks Canada Agency

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017, the Government of Canada offered free admission for all visitors to Parks Canada places, to encourage Canadians to experience their rich history and heritage in a special way. Parks Canada is pleased to have welcomed more visitors to our treasured places than ever before, and to have played an important role in the celebration of Canada 150.

Parks Canada invites you to spend one of your first fall weekends at Bellevue House on September 29th to October 1st. The weekend will contain fun for all ages with harvest celebrations for families during the day and edgy adult programming in the evenings. Events offered during this autumn weekend will encourage visitors to enjoy the national historic site and to continue to explore the Many Voices of Confederation at Bellevue House for Canada 150.

The fall season is an exciting time in the gardens and orchards, as gardeners are collecting the harvest and preparing for the winter. Families can participate in a traditional 1840’s harvest weekend on the grounds of Bellevue House during the day with demonstrations, corn husk doll making, apple cider pressing, pickling, and preserving. Interactive Harvest Garden tours will be offered at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. all weekend. Children are invited to become Parks Canada’s Xplorers and earn a reward by completing a series of challenges.

Make it a date night as the Italianate Villa will be open to adult visitors in the evenings all weekend. Back by popular demand, on Friday night, a special whisky tasting seminar will be offered for true connoisseurs, featuring a line-up of premium single malt Scotch whiskies. For those looking to explore the lesser known and intriguing aspects of Sir John A Macdonald’s life, ‘Alternative Facts’ tours will be offered on Saturday and Sunday evening. These highly interactive, non-traditional museum nights are designed with mature audiences in mind as they offer adult beverages and much more than what you learned in high school history. There are fees for evening programming and reservations can be made by contacting Bellevue House at 613-545-8666.

Declared a national historic site during Canada’s centenary celebration in 1967, Bellevue House has commemorated Canada’s sesquicentennial by presenting some varied and often unheard perspectives of Confederation. September and October are the final months for visitors to discover the Many Voices: Indigenous Art exhibit, which features pieces from some of the most important and comprehensive collections of contemporary Canadian Indigenous art from the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Aboriginal Art Collection and from Landmarks2017 collaborators. An interactive photo booth, “Imagine a Country”, will also be open throughout the fall harvest celebration for people to share their dreams for Canada’s future.

There is still time to explore the best that Canada has to offer at Bellevue House – for FREE - as the national historic site will be open until Thanksgiving. Parks Canada is encouraging visitors to plan their trips and discover new and exciting destinations by consulting Parks Canada’s website, or downloading the NEW Parks Canada Mobile App, for a list of fun events such as Bellevue House’s fall harvest celebration. Visitors can stay up to date with Bellevue House all year long by liking the new Facebook page.