CW Planner

A Quilter's Story

Discover the story of Susana Allen Hunter, quilter, and enjoy a mini quilting project.

Archaeology Behind the Scenes

Visit the Archaeological Lab for a guided tour and learn about a century of archaeological discovery at Colonial Williamsburg!

Art Stop

After exploring the galleries, drop by the Education Studio and create a work of art inspired by an object on exhibit.

At a Glance

Join us on a 20-minute guided tour and enjoy some Museum favorites at a glance.

Beginner Workshop: Gunsmith

Join the Gunsmiths for the layout of sheet brass to make three pieces of a rifle. Participants will make a barrel loop, a ramrod thimble, and the finial of a patchbox.

Beginner Workshop: Nosegay

This hands-on workshop will teach you the meaning of many herbs and flowers to create a personal nosegay to take home or give to someone.

Beginner Workshop: Tailor

Simple materials and skills produced a broad range of useful buttons and a very large industry in the 18th century. Join the Tailors and make two types of thread-covered buttons.

Beginner Workshop: Tin Plate Worker

Join the Tin Shop in exploring the unique properties of tin-plated iron by creating a practical lighting device, a cellar stick.

Beginner Workshop: Weaver

Try your hand at weaving in this class for all levels of experience.

Conversation: Meet a Nation Builder

Find a Nation Builder, a significant figure of 18th-century Williamsburg, around the Palace Green for some informal conversation.

Conversation: Meet a Person of the Past

Find people of the past in front of the Raleigh Tavern for some informal conversation or activity.

Cry Witch

Question witnesses, weigh evidence, and determine the guilt or innocence of "the Virginia Witch." Not appropriate for young children due to subject matter and intense emotion.

Dining Event: Revel at Chowning's Tavern

Join us at Chowning’s Tavern for an evening of 18th-century merrymaking.

Evening Program: Capitol Concert

Join Colonial Williamsburg’s Governor’s Musick for a special evening of chamber music in the live acoustics and visual ambiance of the Hall of Burgesses.

Evening Program: Ghost Walk Junior

Calling guests of all ages! Enjoy this 45-minute ghost tour of traditional spooky stories with a Colonial Williamsburg flavor. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Evening Program: Haunted Williamsburg

Brave centuries of scares, from 18th-century colonial ghost stories to creepy modern-day encounters!

Evening Program: Palace Concert

Colonial Williamsburg's early music ensemble, the Governor's Musick, offers an elegant evening of chamber music.

Family Workshop: Apothecary

Have what it takes to be an Apothecary Apprentice? Participants will compound a medicine, identify medicinal ingredients, learn their uses, and practice applying bandages.

Family Workshop: Cabinetmaker

Join us for an in-depth, hands-on tour and demonstration of hand planes–one of the traditional woodworker’s most indispensable tools.

Family Workshop: Cook

Learn basic garnishing and food decoration skills to create an appealing dessert by sculpting and decorating their marzipan creations.

Fire a Flintlock Musket

Fire live rounds at a target from two different reproduction 18th-century flintlock firearms used during the Revolutionary War.

For Donors: Visit a Nation Builder

Donors who contribute $250 or more annually to the Colonial Williamsburg Fund are invited to visit with a Nation Builder.

Freedom's Paradox

Explore the paradox of the institution of slavery and the movement for independence in a 60-minute walking tour that begins and ends at the Randolph Yard.

From Excavation to Interpretation

Join a Nation Builder and a Colonial Williamsburg Archaeologist as they discuss important sites in Williamsburg from the 18th century to today.

Good Stories about Great Stuff

Join a curator, conservator, educator, archaeologist, or historian to discover who created the object, who owned it, and how it ended up in the Colonial Williamsburg Collection.

Hands-On: For Families

Participate in the daily activities of an 18th-century family at the Geddy House.

Hands-On: Shoulder Your Firelocks!

Engage in a military drill, learning the tactics and drill of the 18th-century soldier.

Museum Discoveries: Textile Collection

Drop in the art museums and take a sneak peek into the textile study storage drawers.

Museum Discoveries: The Public Hospital of 1773

Visit the Public Hospital of 1773 for a discussion about 18th-century mental health and the history of the reconstructed mental hospital.

Music: Art Museums

Enjoy music that has come from distant shores to become our music.

Music: Composed in Early America

Join Kyle Collins, Governor's Musick keyboardist, and discover lesser-known solo keyboard works composed in early America, performed on Colonial Williamsburg's Organized Piano.

Music: Fife & Drum

Watch and listen to the Fifes and Drums as they demonstrate the music and drill of various military ceremonies from an 18th-century soldier's working day.

Music: Fife & Drum March

The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums, representing military field musicians, march from the Capitol to the Palace Green.

Music: From the Stories of Jane Austen

Experience Jane Austen's world with music from the novelist's personal collection performed on the Organized Piano, a rare organ-piano hybrid instrument from Williamsburg history.

Music: In the Wythe Parlor

Join members of the Governor’s Musick in the Wythe House Parlor as domestic music is performed on period instruments.

Music: The Art of Fifing & Drumming

Join the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums as they demonstrate the many musical tasks and ceremonies that occurred throughout a revolutionary soldier's day.

Order in the Court

After a short exploration of the Courthouse and its surroundings, participate in a local court session where lives, liberties, and property are contested.

Performance: A New Republic

This series of museum theater programs relate to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and democracy.

Performance: Family Theater

The Jug Broke Theatre Co. present from their repertoire of plays, ballad operas, and music bringing the spirit of 18th-century theatre to you!

Performance: Revolutionary Acts

This series of museum theater programs relate to the experience and meaning of the Revolution for the 18th-century Williamsburg community.

Performance: Street Theater

The Williamsburg community comes to life in this street theatre experience exploring the daily lives of ordinary people during extraordinary times.

Performance: Voices of Freedom

This series of museum theater programs relate to the theme of freedom — its meaning, denial, and the risks people take for it.

Performance: Voices of the Past

This series of museum theater programs explores the lives of people, both free and enslaved, who walked these streets in the 18th century.

Presentation: 250 Years of Eastern State Hospital

Join us for a discussion about 18th-century mental health treatments and the history of the reconstructed mental hospital.

Presentation: American Indian Life

Through stories and questions, this series of programs will examine a specific aspect of American Indian history, society, and role in the American story.

Presentation: Good Stories about Great Stuff Kids

Calling all KIDS! Join us as we explore stories about objects chosen just for YOU!

Presentation: Historic Trades Talk

Join our experts from the Governor’s Musick ensemble or Historic Trade shops as they share their research with you.

Presentation: Musket Demonstration

Military Programs staff will demonstrate the loading and firing of the musket. Experience the sounds and smells a soldier experienced during the Revolution.

Presentation: Pride not Prejudice

Join members of the Gender and Sexual Diversity Research Committee to explore some of the exciting research they have uncovered.

Public Auction

Take part in an exciting auction! Bid on selected items from Colonial Williamsburg stores as well as exclusive items not available elsewhere.

Revolutionary Points of View

Step back in time to the eve of the American Revolution, and there are just as many opinions about war and independence as we hear about politics and religion today.

Special Event: A Community Salute to America

Celebrate our nation's 247th birthday with The United States Air Force Heritage of America band performing patriotic favorites in a concert on the Art Museums' Lawn.

Special Event: A Salute to the Fallen

A lone bagpiper plays selections from the Governor's Palace in tribute to those men and women who gave their lives to our nation while serving in America's Armed Forces.

Special Event: An Evening with the Presidents

Join George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison to discuss their experiences as presidents.

Special Event: Declaration of Independence Reading

Thomas Jefferson begins a day of pageantry, celebration, and reflection.

Special Event: Drummer's Call

Join the Colonial Williamsburg Senior Fifes and Drums plus a special guest as they perform 18th-century military field music at the Charlton Stage.

Special Event: Grand March and Review

Join Colonial Williamsburg's Fifes and Drums lead visiting corps from around the country in a Grand March from the Capitol down Duke of Gloucester St. to Market Square.

Special Event: Memorial Day Commemoration

Join us on Palace Green as we honor the men and women of the United States military who sacrificed their lives in defense of our nation with a traditional wreath-laying ceremony.

Special Event: Williamsburg Military Tattoo

The Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Corps is joined by guest units from across the nation in a thrilling torch-lit march down Duke of Gloucester Street.

To Hang a Pirate

Join with us in a trial of a member of the crew of Blackbeard the pirate that actually occurred in Williamsburg in 1719. Hear the evidence and make a judgment!

Tour: Arboretum Central Historic Area

Learn about some of Colonial Williamsburg's most asked-about trees, how the colonists used them, and why they continue to be important today.

Tour: Arboretum Griffin Campus

Learn about Colonial Williamsburg’s Arboretum and the native and exotic trees and shrubs that make up its collection, some of which are uncommon in commercial landscapes.

Tour: Bassett Hall Trace

Take a leisurely stroll on Bassett Hall Trace and learn about Virginia’s wildlife and native habitats. If you like nature and enjoy being outdoors, this walk is for you!

Tour: Custis Square Archaeology

Take a guided tour and talk with archaeologists in the field about the current archaeological investigations at John Custis IV’s four-acre home and early 18th-century gardens.

Tour: Designer in Residence

Explore the interior of the oldest frame house in Virginia (circa 1695) and discover how Designer Heather Chadduck Hillegas reimagined these spaces for today.

Tour: Meet the Gardener

Garden volunteers answer questions about growing flowers and vegetables in the Historic Area. Free reservation required.

Tour: Stables Behind-The-Scenes

Get a behind-the-scenes look at our modern stables and learn more about our carriages.

Visit a Nation Builder

Step into the past with a Nation Builder. Through stories, discussion, and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges they faced.

Works By Black Artists and Artisans

Tour the museum galleries, including the “I Made This” exhibition, to explore decorative arts and folk art made by Black American artists and artisans. Free reservation required.