Gingerbread House Festival at The Wood Memorial Library & Museum

**This Post was written in 2018. As such, the content and exhibits in the review below may be outdated.  Please look out for updated content on this location in the near future!

The holiday season is such a wonderful time – and nothing says Christmas like a good old-fashioned gingerbread house!  

I’ve had the annual Gingerbread House Festival at The Wood on my radar for quite some time now.  I was always nervous to go with my child though because he likes to touch everything he sees. It’s a life skill we are working on!  Now that he is well into his 4’s, I decided to give it a try. So last weekend, we checked out this amazing event! 

You might recall our visit to The Wood Memorial Library & Museum in the spring during East Windsor’s Bicentennial Celebration. The Wood is a small, but lovely little library rich with art and history.  And while they are known for being a special part of South Windsor, they have also become a Christmas tradition here in Connecticut with this Gingerbread Festival.  

This year’s Gingerbread Festival began on November 23 and runs through December 15. You can stop by the Wood on Mondays, Thursdays and Friday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., or Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission the event is completely free.

They were completely decked out in Christmas spirit! 

The Gingerbread houses fill up the spaces of both the first floor and the second floor. The houses are created and donated by businesses, organizations and families.  Anyone can donate their creation! It’s amazing to see all of this creativity throughout the library.  There were easily over 100 different entries.  

Before you start your tour of the gingerbread house display, make sure you grab a  copy of their scavenger hunt! It makes for a fun adventure while you walk through the library.

There is no competition for the best gingerbread house  – I think it would be impossible to choose. Every one will have a favorite! 

Naturally, my son had his favorites. 

Some of the creations went beyond a simple house or even a train. There were a few full winter scenes! 

And then there were these amazing ones! The little bookshelf was a personal favorite of mine. 

You will notice in all of the photos, little red boxes next to the gingerbread designs. The red box indicates that these ones are up for raffle. Yes, that’s right. You can enter to win one of the gingerbread houses! The raffle tickets are for sale at the entrance of the festival. You can imagine we dropped a few tickets in the boxes for those gingerbread trains! 

Also available for raffle are a number of prizes located on a table in the center of the first floor.  They had items likes Legos, gift certificates to local restaurants and much more! Definitely worth trying your luck for one of these great prizes! 

As I mentioned, the display goes all the way to the second floor.

There were two full rooms of gingerbread creations up here! I was constantly amazed by the work put into these! This is not just about having creativity, but also a huge amount of patience! 

\

Another of my personal favorites was found on the second floor- this camera is amazing! 

They also had a gift shop set up on the second floor – lots of great items to choose from! 

The Wood Gingerbread House Festival is a must during the holiday season. If you have not yet been, you will want to carve some time this weekend as it’s their last weekend for 2018.  It’s a fun time for all ages (including a four year old that is still learning to look with their eyes and not their hands).  Make this a new part of your family tradition – we certainly did!  

This about sums it up…

783 Main Street  – South Windsor, Connecticut

Library Website        |     Event Website

Event Hours:

2018 Schedule: November 23 – December 15, 2018

Thursdays & Fridays:  10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays & Mondays:  10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Features:

• Free Admission
• Free Parking – lot is small. There is parking on the side of road
• Bring cash for raffle and donations
• Family and kid friendly but make sure your kids know to look with their eyes! 
• Not Stroller friendly (lots of stairs) – babywear or allow for walking
• Bathroom downstairs with changing table
• The Gingerbread Festival is an annual event, Make sure to check out the library’s calendar for more events throughout the year.  In addition to the festival, the library also hosts gingerbread workshops, and events with Santa and the Elf on the Shelf.