TIFTON — With the Christmas season just around the corner, the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will offer four special holiday events in days to come. They include the Wiregrass Farmers Holiday Market, Wiregrass Christmas, the North Pole Express, and a Victorian Village by Candlelight.   

The Holiday Market will kick off the season’s festivities on Nov. 30 at the Peanut Museum and Market Barn from 5-8 p.m. It will feature a bonfire, samples from market vendors and local artisans, entertainment by local musicians, and hot cider for shoppers.  Soup and cornbread will also be available for purchase during the event. Admission to the Holiday Market is $2 per person or $5 per family of four.  Tickets will be sold at the door.  

Market liaison Polly Huff said the Museum’s Country Store will also be open for the event, and guests can purchase a variety of locally made pantry staples and unique holiday gifts. Free gift wrapping will be available for all purchases. Vendors will offer items including leather goods, handmade soaps and scrubs, locally roasted coffee beans, honey, nuts, baked goods, vegan treats, jams and jellies, eggs, winter produce, and handmade jewelry.

On Dec. 8, the Wiregrass Christmas celebration will take place from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.  Events will include caroling, the reading of Christmas stories, folk singers performing traditional Christmas and bluegrass music, a Cloggers Jamboree from 10 a.m. - noon, crocheting demonstrations in the Gibbs House, and cane grinding.  Other activities include biscuit-making and baking demonstrations, handmade candle-dipping, and candy-pulling.  The Country Store will also offer samples of pound cake, tea cake, and apple cider.   

Tickets for the Wiregrass Christmas are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for children over four years of age.  Children four and under will be admitted at no charge.

The North Pole Express will take place on Dec. 14-15 from 5-8 p.m. The Museum’s 1917 steam locomotive will depart for the North Pole every 20 minutes.  Guests riding the North Pole Express will visit with Santa Claus and listen to Mrs. Claus read the “Polar Express.” Visitors will also be able to enjoy refreshments and watch “The Polar Express” as they await the North Pole Express to depart from the station.

Tickets for the North Pole Express are $6 per person and must be purchased in advance at the Country Store.  No tickets will be sold at the event. The North Pole Express will run rain or shine.

Visitors can experience the holiday season in the 1880s with the Victorian Village by Candlelight on Dec. 16 from 5:30-8 p.m. Ride the Vulcan steam engine into the village aglow with lanterns and luminaries as passengers stroll from house to house witnessing Victorian village life at Christmastime.  Visitors will then be treated to a bonfire, hot chocolate, tea cakes, and music from the Shape Note Singers to round out the night.

Tickets for the Victorian Village by Candlelight are $15 per person or $25 per couple and must be purchased in advance at the Country Store.  No tickets will be sold at the event. Victorian Village by Candlelight will take place rain or shine.

The Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village will be closed from Dec. 17 – Jan. 2, 2013, and the Country Store will be closed Dec. 22 – Jan. 2, 2013. The Country Store will be open for holiday shoppers through Dec. 21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 Hours of operation in January are 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the Historic Village, Museum, and Gallery. During the week, admission is reduced to $4 for those five years of age and older and free to children four and under. Saturday is free for children four and under, $5 for children 5-16 years of age, $10 for adults, and $8 for seniors.

For more information, interested persons can contact the Museum at (229) 391-5205 or visit the web site at www.abac.edu/museum.