1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Admission: $8 Adults, $6 Seniors/Students with I.D., Members and children 4 and under Free. $20.00 family cap (up to 4 individuals in one household. Half price for additional guests).

Travel back to a time when illuminated manuscripts and stained glass windows were made to kindle heavenly inspiration. Watch as stained glass windows are painted by hand and as manuscripts are illuminated by hand. Enjoy music played on period instruments, join a group on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, and try your hand at making your own “medieval” art. Explore the galleries on your own, take our cell phone audio tour, and then rejuvenate at our Castle Café. Come in medieval costume and get a prize!

Read more and view photos from past Medieval Festivals.

1:00 to 4:00 pm

Admission: $35/person. Space is limited, reservations required. Contact Doreen Carey at 267-502-2981 or doreen.carey@glencairnmuseum.org to book your spot today!

Over a thousand years ago three guilds of craftsmen worked collaboratively to create the sacred art of stained glass. This 3 hour tour will focus on the roles of the artisans that made windows for the medieval cathedrals and include a demonstration of historic techniques. Participants will be treated to a rare behind the scenes look at the extraordinary collection of medieval stained glass at Glencairn Museum, the nation’s finest collection in a private museum.

About the Instructor: J. Kenneth Leap has been painting on glass for 25 years. He currently holds a position as the Education Chair of the American Glass Guild. He is the Stained Glass Artist in Residence at Glencairn Museum. He is an associate artist at the Wheaton Arts & Cultural Center in Millville, NJ where he maintains a studio and offers additional classes. For more information please visit www.jkennethleap.com.

8:00 pm (Doors open at 7:30)

Admission: Donations welcome. Free for Bryn Athyn College/Academy of the New Church students. Seating Capacity: 300

It’s been 74 years since Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn opened the doors of their nine-story home for a “Christmas Sing” for family, friends and neighbors. Pitcairn told those gathered that he and his wife were delighted that the first use of their new home was for an event associated with the “peace and happiness of Christmas time.”

Join us as the tradition continues when the Museum, which now occupies the Pitcairns’ castle-like home, hosts the “Glencairn Sing,” a Christmas concert open to the public. The program will feature soloists, audience caroling, readings from the Christmas story, the Academy of the New Church Choral and Hand Bell Choirs and the “Glencairn Horns” composed of current or former members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The Horns will play a series of Christmas melodies and chorales, music that was collected and arranged in the 1920s by Anton Horner, former principal horn with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Sunday, December 4th 1:00 to 5:00 pm | Monday-Saturday Noon to 4:30 pm

Glencairn Museum is hosting an International Gift Festival to support artisans around the world. Shop at Glencairn to discover an exquisite collection of handmade gifts and help skilled artisans in some 38 countries receive a fair price for their products. Featured items include hand loomed textiles, pottery, jewelry, baskets, musical instruments, cards, toys and a variety of nativities. Glencairn Museum has hosted the sale for the last five years, showcasing handcrafted items marketed by Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit fair trade organization based in Akron, PA.

1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Admission: $8 Adults, $6 Seniors/Students with I.D., Members and children 4 and under Free. $20.00 family cap (up to 4 individuals in one household. Half price for additional guests).

Visit Glencairn for our annual Christmas program showcasing our annual exhibition, “Follow the Star: World Nativities.” See how Christians around the world have adapted the Nativity scene to represent their own national, regional and local cultures. Enjoy holiday refreshments at the Castle Cafe, live Christmas music, a family activity and a Christmas Quest of Nativity art in Glencairn. Finish up your visit by getting some of your holiday shopping done at our Ten Thousand Villages sale and Glencairn's gift shop!

Read the press release for the event here.

1:00 to 4:30 pm

Admission: $225/person. Space is limited, reservations required. Children age 12 and up can take this class if accompanied by a paying adult. Contact Doreen Carey at 267-502-2981 or doreen.carey@glencairnmuseum.org to book your spot today!

This class will introduce traditional techniques of glass painting used by stained glass artisans in the medieval and Renaissance period. Participants will be given a choice of patterns and produce a small panel during the workshop. Students will learn to mix and apply glass-based pigments. Proper brush techniques will be covered in detail. All materials provided. No experience necessary.

About the Instructor: J. Kenneth Leap has been painting on glass for 25 years. He currently holds a position as the Education Chair of the American Glass Guild. He is the Stained Glass Artist in Residence at Glencairn Museum. He is an associate artist at the Wheaton Arts & Cultural Center in Millville, NJ where he maintains a studio and offers additional classes. For more information please visit www.jkennethleap.com.

12:00 to 5:00 pm

Admission: $8 Adults, $6 Seniors/Students with I.D., Members and children 4 and under Free. $20.00 family cap (up to 4 individuals in one household. Half price for additional guests).

Our Halloween Festival features exhibitions and activities about the history of Halloween traditions reaching back over the centuries since the holiday's beginning. Explore the galleries and art by looking for clues in "Castle Quest," our Harry Potter scavenger hunt. Observe a live demonstration of the ancient art of wheat weaving and straw craft. Take our cell phone audio tour, "Angels, Devils and Spirits." Stop by the Castle Cafe, and don't forget to come in costume!

Halloween Festival Press Release 2011: New café offerings this year: lunch, pastries and cider

Glencairn Halloween Festival to feature Harry Potter scavenger hunt, wheat-weaving, ‘Angels, Devils & Spirits’ cell phone tour of museum.

A Harry Potter scavenger hunt, wheat-weaving demonstrations, trick-or-treat activity, face painting and an “Angels, Devils and Spirits” cell phone audio tour will highlight a Halloween Festival Oct. 29 at Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn.

The family-friendly event for all ages will be held from noon to 5 p.m. at the museum of religious art and history housed in a nine-story medieval-style castle at 1001 Cathedral Rd. This year’s festival also features a light lunch, pastries, coffee, tea, and apple cider.

Also new are the demonstrations of wheat weaving, “an ancient activity associated with the harvest,” said Joralyn Echols, Glencairn’s outreach and public relations coordinator. “In England they are called corn dollies,” she said, “and they were made to ensure a bountiful harvest. Some of the designs brought good luck and protected against witchcraft.” Kirsten Hansen Gyllenhaal of Bryn Athyn will give wheat weaving demonstrations throughout the afternoon and will provide information about the history and significance of several traditional designs on exhibit.

During the Harry Potter scavenger hunt, visitors will search various rooms in the castle for artifacts that relate to episodes in the popular Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. In the Asian Gallery, participants will search for a Chinese phoenix reminiscent of Fawkes, the magical phoenix who came to Harry’s rescue in the Chamber of Secrets. Visitors also may take a cell phone audio tour “Angels, Devils and Spirits” that explores Glencairn’s art collections or a guided highlights tour of the permanent collection.

The museum’s first floor opens at noon to coincide with conclusion of a Candy Apple event at nearby Cairnwood Estate, 1005 Cathedral Rd., from 10 a.m. to noon. Halloween activities, demonstrations and more will be on the first floor, with the entire museum opening at 1 p.m. for the scavenger hunt, face painting, guided and self-guided tours and the “Angels, Devils and Spirits” cell phone audio tour. Children who decorate their own trick-or-treat bag will receive a candy reward for their efforts.

A light lunch including meat or vegetable chili, served by Valley Green Coffee Co. of Glenside, can be purchased beginning at 12:30 p.m. Beverages will be available beginning at noon.

Admission is $8; $6 for seniors and students with ID; free for museum members and children 4 and younger. Glencairn will offer a $20 family cap on admission for up to four individuals per household, with half price charged for additional guests in the party.  Visitors are invited to come in costume, and stop by the Castle Café and gift shop.

For additional information, call Glencairn at 267-502-2600 or visit www.glencairnmuseum.org.

8:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Admission: $65/person. Limited ticket availability. Includes transportation and museum admission. Lunch not included.

Reservations required by Wednesday, October 5, 2011. Contact Doreen Carey at 267-502-2981 or doreen.carey@glencairnmuseum.org to reserve your spot! Ask Doreen about lunch options when you make your reservation.

Enjoy Philadelphia Museum of Art's stunning exhibition, "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus" with fellow Glencairn members (audio tours included). In the afternoon experience the newly redesigned National Museum of American Jewish History through a self-guided tour.

3:00 PM (Doors open at 2:30) | TICKETS SOLD ONLY AT THE DOOR

Admission: $20 Adults, $15 Members/Students with I.D. | Seating Capacity: 300

The late Glenn Dodson (Principal trombonist, Philadelphia Orchestra, 1968-1995) assembled the first incarnation of Posaune, including some of the most highly regarded trombone players from around the world. His goal was “to raise the trombone to the level of chamber music, instead of the bombastic usage of which it is often thought!” Witness as the ensemble realizes his vision during their third appearance in Glencairn’s Great Hall.

1:00 to 4:00 pm

Admission: $35/person. Space is limited, reservations required. Contact Doreen Carey at 267-502-2981 or doreen.carey@glencairnmuseum.org to book your spot today!

In the 1920s the craftsmen of Bryn Athyn began a great experiment to rediscover techniques of medieval stained glass. In the process they worked out their own unique methods for glass making and painting in the medieval style. This 3 hour tour will include an in-depth look at the works created for the home of Raymond Pitcairn paired with the extraordinary collection of 12th-century glass that inspired them. The tour will conclude in Glencairn's studio for a demonstration of techniques based on the discoveries of the Bryn Athyn craftsmen, many of which blur the distinction between restoration and forgery.

About the Instructor: J. Kenneth Leap has been painting on glass for 25 years. He currently holds a position as the Education Chair of the American Glass Guild. He is the Stained Glass Artist in Residence at Glencairn Museum. He is an associate artist at the Wheaton Arts & Cultural Center in Millville, NJ where he maintains a studio and offers additional classes. For more information visit www.jkennethleap.com.