English Country Dancing

Sundays, April 19 to June 7, 2020

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Think English Country Dancing is slow and stately?  Well, maybe there'll be a few slower numbers so we can catch our breaths, but you'll get a great workout with the hopping, skipping, quick turns, reels and even the occasional gallop down the room to lively music!  The patterns in the dance are a great workout for your brain too, as you listen to the caller and follow the steps in each dance.  No partners necessary and newcomers to English Country Dance are welcome.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

Pioneer Bush Craft

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Saturday, June 13, 2020

11:00 am to 2:00 pm

This three-day course is filled with interactive skills-building for the nature enthusiast, with some historical story-telling to enrich the experience!  Participants will explore the kinds of skills our pioneers needed to survive settler life on the trail.  Note:  Please bring your own snack and drinks in reusable containers.  All classes will be outdoors - dress appropriately for the weather.  If heavy rain or storm forces a class cancellation, the rain back up date will be one week after the originally scheduled date of the class, at the same time.  Note:  this is not a survival course.

Building a Shelter (Day 1):  Explore and build pioneer shelters, including two types of lean-to using scavenged natural materials and the Revolutionary War bell tent.  Enjoy cedar tea to begin your day.  Discussion will include pioneer travel and the early arrival of settlers to Pickering.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

Fire Building (Day 2):  Learn fire-building techniques for dry and wet weather, make a simple wooden container, learn to cook bannock on a stick, find and drink clean water from natural sources, and enjoy a wild peppermint tea.  Note:  bannock will include flour.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

Eating on the Trail (Day 3):  Following a fire-building review, enjoy a wild raspberry leaf tea.  Learn how to forage for in-season food, followed by preparing and cooking a simple, historical bush meal (blueberry bush pudding, bannock on coals, bannock doughnuts, and wild raspberry leaf tea).  Note:  meal will include flour, dairy, and pork products.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

To register for all three courses as a package, click here.

1850s Apprentice Workshop:  Blacksmith

Saturday, June 20, 2020 or Sunday, June 21, 2020

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Become a blacksmith apprentice for a day and learn how to forge at Pickering Museum Village's blacksmith shop.  Join us for a project based workshop, where you will learn the basics of blacksmithing, as well as the skills needed to be a 19th century blacksmith.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click the date June 20 or June 21 .

English Country Dancing

Sundays, September 13 to November 8, 2020

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Think English Country Dancing is slow and stately?  Well, maybe there'll be a few slower numbers so we can catch our breaths, but you'll get a great workout with the hopping, skipping, quick turns, reels and even the occasional gallop down the room to lively music!  The patterns in the dance are a great workout for your brain too, as you listen to the caller and follow the steps in each dance.  No partners necessary and newcomers to English Country Dance are welcome.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

First Nations Medicine Bag 

Saturday, October 17, 2020

10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Medicine bags were small pouches made by First Nations people to hold sacred objects.  Learn the background to these bags and what was kept in them, and then make your own medicine bag, in which you can keep things which have meaning for you.  All supplies will be provided.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

Wreath Making Workshop

Saturday, November 21, 2020

10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Deck your halls with a lovely evergreen wreath-made by you!  You'll gather fragrant boughs from our woods and then warm up with a hot beverage and cookies.  Our horticultural guru will show you how to fashion them into a seasonal masterpiece, complete with ribbon and natural accents like pine cones and bittersweet.  Bring a basket, garden gloves and a set of clippers for harvesting your boughs.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

Drawing History (10-13 years)

Mondays, April 20 - June 1

7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Learn sketching, drawing and watercolour techniques based on historic artworks of Ontario's past. A different historic piece will be featured each class, and participants will learn a new technique each week.  Led by an artist and Museum Interpreter, this program will ignite imaginations, inspire creativity and build new skills.  Material list provided to participants. 

Register here.

Kids in the Village

Wednesdays in July and August

10:30 am and 1:00 pm

Join our costumed interpreter for an hour and a half interactive program for children ages 3 to 12 years. Children will learn and play old-fashioned games, followed by a heritage-inspired craft they can take home. Registration is open.

Wednesday July 8: Furry Creatures of the Forest. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm.       

Wednesday July 15: Mosaic Art. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm.                                      

Wednesday July 22: Cotton Sheep. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm.                                   

Wednesday July 29: Paper Quilt. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm.                                      

Wednesday August 5: Beaded Dragonfly. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm.                      

Wednesday August 12: Arctic Landscape. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm.                   

Wednesday August 19: Mammoth Creature. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm.                 

Wednesday August 26: Scarecrow Spinners. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm.                 

Family Culinary Saturdays

Saturdays in July and August

10:30 am and 1:00 pm

Gather your family together and learn how to make historical recipes with our costumed interpreters. Each session is an hour and a half and features a guided tour and time in one of our historic kitchens. Registration is open.

Click on the time to register 

Saturday July 4: Vanilla Ice cream. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm. 

July 11: Welsh Rarebit Sandwich. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm. 

July 25: Raspberry Sorbet. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm. 

August 1: Switchel. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm. 

August 8: The Aristocrat Sandwich. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm. 

August 15: Nutmeg Ice cream. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm. 

August 22:1905 Salad. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm. 

August 29: Cinnamon Toast Bread Sandwich. Register for 10:30 am or 1:00 pm. 

Mother's Day Tea

Sunday, May 10, 2020

12:00 pm and 2:30 pm seatings

Book early to bring your mom, and your children's mom to a luncheon out, just for them!  Pickering Museum Village's Redman House will be the tea room for you to honour the women in your family.  Tea, sandwiches, and sweets are on the menu for this special day.  Every mother will receive a small token at her table.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1. 

To register via ActiveNet for the 12:00 pm seating click here.

To register via ActiveNet for the 2:30 pm seating click here.

Irish Tea

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

11:30 am and 2:00 pm seatings

Gordon, Teefy, and McCreight are all names of early settlers who immigrated to Pickering Township directly from Ireland.  This talk will focus on delicious Irish culinary influences in our community between 1810 and 1837 (the period when these families helped settle Pickering Township) as well as beliefs, customs, and traditions likely held dear from the old country.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  

To register via ActiveNet for the 11:30 am seating click here.

To register via ActiveNet for the 2:00 pm seating click here.

1850s Apprentice Workshop:  Heritage Cook

Saturday, June 6, 2020

10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Spend the day with a heritage cook!  Travel back to the smells, tastes and textures of 1850s cooking using ingredients from Upper Canada.  Join our costumed heritage cook to prepare and make an 1850s-inspired three-course meal over the wood stove, and then enjoy the fruits of your labour in the museum's 1850s-era dining room.  *If you would like to wear a heritage costume, our Costumer will fit you for the day (optional).

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

Thursday Taster Trio

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Taste a trio of historically inspired tastes paired with historic cocktails and spirits.  Enjoy characters of the past brought to life in an entertaining night of revelry, food and history.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click dates above.

High Victorian Tea

Thursday, July 16, 2020

11:30 am and 2:00 pm seatings

This workshop highlights the history of tea from early Chinese beginning, through the heyday of the clipper shops, and beyond.  There will be tea tastings of various types (black, oolong, green, white, and blends).  You will also enjoy the full course tea meal typically available in Pickering of the 1860s.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.

To register via ActiveNet for the 11:30 am seating click here.

To register via ActiveNet for the 2:00 pm seating click here.

1830s Apprentice Workshop:  Heritage Cook

Saturday, September 12, 2020

10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Spend the day with a heritage cook!  Travel back to the smells, tastes and textures of cooking over the hearth in the 1830s in the museum's log cabin.  Join our costumed heritage cook to make a three-course 1830s inspired meal over the hearth, and then enjoy the fruits of your labour around the log cabin dining room table.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

Bannock Cooking Workshop

Saturday, October 3, 2020

10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Learn how bannock was made in Pickering 150 years ago by First Nations people and early settlers.  Make your own bannock in this interactive workshop.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

Bounty of the Harvest

Saturday, October 3, 2020

Saturday, October 17, 2020

Saturday, October 31, 2020

1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Feel the soil between your fingers as you harvest fresh produce and herbs from our orchards and gardens.  Learn to prepare, pickle, or preserve it the way early Pickering inhabitants did.  This program includes hands-on harvesting, a heritage food recipe, a mini food prep session, and an opportunity to take home what you've made.  Everything can be made in your kitchen at home!  

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click the dates below.

October 3:  apples, orchards and apple crisp;

October 17: parsnips, root vegetables and preserves; 

October 31:  pumpkins, squash and pickles.

A Dickens of a Tea

Sunday, October 4, 2020

11:30 am and 2:00 pm seatings

Charles Dickens did a North American tour in 1842 and performed readings of the Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto.  The following year he published A Christmas Carol. Dickens made much mention of food in his books, many of which will be featured in this full-course tea and talk. 

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  

To register via ActiveNet for the 11:30 am seating click here.

To register via ActiveNet for the 2:00 pm seating click here.

Bread Making Workshop

Saturday, October 24, 2020

10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Our knowledgeable cooks will guide you through making several types of heritage bread recipes as you work with others in our heritage buildings.  Lunch is included (you'll be helping to make it!)  Please bring an apron and containers to take home your baked triumphs.

Advance registration is required and opens on January 1.  To register via ActiveNet click here.

July 18th 2020

10:30 am - 4:00 pm

Back by popular demand! Unplug for the day and join us for our live version of the computer game. Teams will Mine for resources throughout the Museum's Historic Village and craft items to get through our game levels.

To finish all levels of our game may take over 3 hours, so bring your lunch and spend the day! Last admission time is 3:00 pm for participating in Minecraft activities.

Please note: no computers are used in our live version of the game and running shoes are recommended!
Special Admission fees apply.

Registration for this truly unique Museum event will open in February, through the eStore- watch for updates!

 Take a guided tour of the historic village at night and hear stories from the past that still haunt us today. Learn about paranormal investigations that have found evidence of spirits and ghosts, and hear stories of past tragedies that actually took place in Pickering's past.

Click on a time to register.

Thursday August 20th: 8:15 pm

Thursday September 10th: 8:15 pm

Thursday October 8th: 8:15 pm

Thursday October 15th: 8:15 pm

Thursday October 22nd: 8:15 pm

Thursday October 29th: 8:15 pm

September 17,18,19,24,25 & 26 2020

Various performance times (starting at 7:00 pm)

A Spirit Walk 25th Anniversary– Bringing Pickering Township’s involvement in the 1837 Rebellion to life. Follow your guide, Hannah Matthews through scenes in our historical village to learn about Pickering Township’s involvement in the 1837 Rebellion. Learn about our very own Peter Matthews, his life from settlement to tragic end and his influence on the 1837 Rebellion, a pivotal point in our Nation’s History on the way to Confederation.

Tickets available starting in June.

Sunday, December 6th 2020

11:30 am - 4:00 pm

Step into the past and enjoy the holiday celebrations of Early Century Pickering Township. Visit Santa Claus at the General Store for a photo op, take a horse drawn ride through the streets, join a dance at Squire Jonathan’s Christmas Ball, and experience Welsh, Scottish, and Victorian traditions as the inhabitants bring our Village to life.

Backwoods Players present the “Duffins Creek Sunday School Pageant”, and the Durham Storytellers share stories of Christmases past.

Tickets available starting in June.  Free for Season Pass holders.