December at the Market – Annapolis Royal Winter Farmers Market

During December, the Annapolis Royal Winter Farmers Market (at the Historic Gardens) can help you prepare for the holidays! Get some special holiday-themed products, or talk to your favourite vendors about special orders for the holidays. And be sure to enter our Market Holiday Draw each time you make a purchase. We are here EVERY Saturday in December, 9am-12noon,  for your convenience! (Market Vendors are located inside and out, so don’t let the rain (or snow) deter you!)

Download our December Market Schedule with all the details!

Meet you at the Market!

Annapolis Royal Market Extravaganza – Dec 3

This coming Saturday, December 3, there is EVERY reason to come to Annapolis Royal to do your Christmas shopping! There are 3, count ‘em, THREE Christmas Craft Markets in Annapolis Royal that day PLUS the Winter Farmer’s Market – something like 170 vendors in total between the four sites. And since Annapolis Royal is so tiny, all these sites are within a mile of each other! Add to that all the great shops, studios and restaurants in Town – well you can see how you can spend a whole day here quite easily!

The attached download outlines the 4 market locations along with hours, etc. Have a look, and start planning your Saturday accordingly!

Market Extravaganza MAP

See you there!

Goblets & Goblins October 28

A Bewitching Evening of Wine & Merriment in the Historic Gardens

Staff and volunteers at the Annapolis RoyalHistoricGardensare pleased to announce their final Wine Evening of the 2011 season… the much-anticipated Goblets & Goblins on Friday October 28, 7-9pm!

What is “Goblets & Goblins” all about? Organizers don’t want to give away too much, but imagine yourself wandering down a Garden path on a dark October evening, lanterns lighting the way, to enjoy some wickedly good treats, local award-winning wines, and the odd ghost story, all in a toasty warm location! Visualize yourself setting out again, down another path, to another place where you can warm your hands by the fire and tempt your tastebuds with some devilish delectable delights!

A Wine Evening with a seasonal twist or two awaits you at the HistoricGardenson Friday October 28, 7-9pm. The event is “indoors & out” at the Gardens, rain or shine. So dress warmly. Dress is casual “come as you are”… but if you have a halloween costume in your closet that you are just dying for an excuse to wear, you are welcome to do so. Goblets & Goblins tickets are $10 per person, including food and entertainment, and there will be a cash bar (Wine & Scotch). (Please note this is a 19 & over event.)

For further information, or to order tickets, call 532-7018 or drop by the Historic Gardens, 441 St. George Street, Annapolis Royal.

Or you can purchase tickets through our website at www.historicgardens.com.

GHOST TOWN Geo-Quest 2011

Feel like enjoying the great outdoors with a GPS in hand? Doing some exploring? Up for a challenge?

From now until November 1, 2011, as part of our GHOST TOWN offering, we have a special Geo-Quest set up in Annapolis Royal. It’s a family-friendly challenge, and a great way to spend an hour or two discovering areas of this community.

If you are interesting in learning more, please follow this link to our GHOST TOWN Geo-Quest page!

Be a GHOST TOWN Survivor!

We’re sure you will want to participate in lots of GHOST TOWN events, and we’re going to help make it easy for you!

Historic Gardens, Sinclair Inn Museum and Fort Anne are offering a GHOST TOWN Passport, which includes admission for:

~ October 21, 22, 28, 29 – 7-10pm: A Haunted House. Ghosts and ghouls will entertain you at the Sinclair Inn Museum.

~ October 21, 22, 28, 29 – 7-9pm: A Skeleton Revealed. Uncover the mystery of Private Simpson at Fort Anne.

~ October 21, 22, 29 – 7-9pm: Ghostly Gardens After Dark. A hauntingly good time for the whole family at the Historic Gardens!

For only $10 you can attend all three events (Family rate of only $25 for two adults and your dependent children).

You don’t have to attend all 3 events on one night – your passport is good for one visit to each of these events whichever nights you choose. PLUS – if you attend all three events using your passport, you will receive a special GHOST TOWN Survivor award!

GHOST TOWN Passports are available anytime after October 20 at the Historic Gardens and O’Dell House Museum, and at the Winter Markets Oct 22 and 29 at the Gardens. Call 532-7018 or email admin@historicgardens.com for details. 

Annapolis Royal becomes a GHOST TOWN!

Annapolis Royal becomes a GHOST TOWN!

While it is not normally a title to brag about, the Town ofAnnapolis Royalwill proudly call itself a GHOST TOWN this October!

From October 21 to November 1, Annapolis Royalwill take on ghostly aura as the spirits of the past take over the Town for a Halloween-inspired festival. There will be a spook-tacular array of activities including a Haunted House at the Sinclair Inn Museum, A Skeleton Revealed at Fort Anne, and Ghostly Gardens After Dark at the Historic Gardens. Goblets & Goblins, on October 28, promises a bewitching evening of wine & scotch in the hauntingly boo-tiful Historic Gardens. Alan Melanson will lead his renowned Candlelight Graveyard Tours, and there will be a special launch of Wayne Kerr’s book about theGarrisonCemetery.

Add to that some great Halloween parties, a Haunted Seek & Find, Ghostly Geo-Caches, and some ghoulish sales and specials byAnnapolis Royal’s businesses… and you are sure to have a grand time when you visit… if you dare!

For further information, and the very latest schedule of events, visit www.ExploreGhostTown.com or call 532-7018.

www.ExploreGhostTown.com

 

Welcome Wharf Rat Rally – August 31 – Sept 5

It is time to haul out the leather and rev up the engine for another edition of Digby’s famous Wharf Rat Rally.  This event has quickly grown to become an important part of the local tourist season and Annapolis Royal is ready to welcome the Wharf Rats to town.  As in previous years, some of the local businesses and attractions have planned events to compliment the large gathering in Digby.

If you are looking for a chance to ride, there will be a couple of opportunities to experience our region.  The Annapolis Royal to Bridgetown Rat Run is a self guided tour that takes riders through some of the prettiest countryside in Nova Scotia.  The Rat Run works as a treasure hunt where riders search through participating locations to find the Roger Rat logo.   Participating locations include Bainton’s Tannery, Ye Olde Towne Pub, End of the Line Pub, the O’Dell House Museum, HistoricGardens, FortAnne, The Leather Barn and more.  For those looking for a guided tour, on Saturday and Sunday a group will leave Digby and travel to various destinations around Annapolis Royal.  Registration for this tour takes place at the  2 Canadian Army Veterans motorcycle club (2CAV) Booth, shared with the 74th Crusaders motorcycle club which is Located Across from The Wharf Rat Rally headquarters.

Annapolis Royal also offers Wharf Rats the greatest photo opp ever! At the Historic Gardens you and your bike will have the chance to go “Hawg Wild in the Gardens”.  Imagine rumbling in to get your photograph taken among the flowers.  For the ‘You & Your Bike” photo opp, here are two options: Self Serve & Full Service. Self Serve allows you to bring your motorcycle into the Gardens and take your own photos, while Full Service provides VIP treatment with preferred locations and a photographer to accompany you. It’s a terrific and unique opportunity in one of Nova Scotia’s treasures.

If you are looking for some all ages fun there will be a Cow Patty Bingo at the Legion. At 2pm on September 3 the cow will be let loose in the field behind the Legion.  When the cow lets loose (the cow patty) a winner will be declared.  For those who like their vehicles with three wheels and without motors, Kings Theatre will be showing the Smurfs on Friday night at 7:00pm and again on Sunday afternoon at 2:00pm.

Check out our Annapolis Royal Welcomes Wharf Rats Schedule of Events!

And then be sure to visit the official Wharf Rat Rally Website for information on all the great activities!

Calling all Shutterbugs!

 

Calling All Shutterbugs!

Folks at the Historic Gardens are inviting any and all photographers to submit their favourite photos of the Historic Gardens to the 6th Annual Photography Contest and Exhibit to provide the public with a chance to showcase their love for the Gardens.

 

The exhibit is open to anyone who wishes to show off their artwork and skills, while the contest is open only to amateur photographers. There are various categories, including specimens, views, people, etc and there is a special Junior Shutterbug category as well. Staff at the Gardens are very excited to be receiving entries already – all photographs must be dropped off at the Gardens Office by Tuesday, August 9th 2011. Judging will take place Friday, August 12th, and the exhibit will be on display from August 12-21.

 

Whether you are inspired by the roses, lilies, or the Acadian House, grab a camera and start taking pictures so others can see the Gardens’ beauty through your eyes. ! As Nova Scotians celebrate the 30^th Birthday of the Historic Gardens, opened in August 1981, there are expectations that this year’s photo exhibit will be extra special!

 

Download Rules & Entry Form HERE!

Heritage in Unusual Places

Have you ever experienced Heritage in Unusual Places?

While Annapolis Royal has a reputation as a heritage-minded town, there are still some stories that are not told on a regular basis. This festival is your chance to meet some of the craftspeople, storytellers and other caretakers of our community’s unusual history. Pay special attention for Wilfrid Cartier who refers to himself an “Uncle of Confederation”. He will be making a number of spontaneous appearances through the weekend.

Check out the Schedule!

More Faerie Houses in Annapolis Royal!

In the past month or more, untold numbers of faeries have come to Annapolis Royal and built homes. And it seems they have told their friends as more and more of their wee little houses appear each week!

The Historic Gardens have definitely found favour among the faeries, with more than 15 faerie houses already spied so far – and who knows how many faerie houses are tucked away in places where we can’t see them! This would be expected of faeries, I’m told, as they are rumoured to be a very reclusive lot.

Throughout Town, there are leather houses at Bainton’s Tannery Outlet, paper ones at the library, some with coffee bean detailing at Leo’s Cafe, and one of the latest findings… at the Royal Bank there are faeries houses made from what looks like play money! I wonder if a Faerie ATM will soon follow…

I had the pleasure this weekend of interacting with a number of children who had come to the Gardens to see the faerie houses. It was pretty special to see the look of wonder in their eyes as they imagined what the faeries looked like, how they lived. One inquisitive young fellow was even asking me how they might heat their homes, what they eat & drink… he was enthralled! After he left the Gardens, he was hoping his Dad would take him to the Playground to see those Faerie Houses, because I had told him about a very special thing I had seen there… Faerie Wings!

Yes, inside one of the Faerie Houses, beside the little bed, was a set of silver wings. I assume the resident faerie has more than one set of wings, and these were her spares. She may have a closet full of faerie wings for all I know, one for each day of the week! Nevertheless, this young fellow was determined that their next stop would be the Playground so that he could see these wings for himself.

I don’t know what magic has brought these faeries to Annapolis Royal, but I hope they keep coming in droves. The magic and happiness they create, in residents and visitors, young and old, is nothing short of remarkable!

For more on Annapolis Royal’s Faerie Folk, click here!