Candlelight Tour

56th Annual Candlelight Tour

To Be Announced

Thank you to all that attended our special 55th Annual Candlelight Tour!
If you would like to volunteer or sponsor during our 56th Annual Candlelight Tour, please see the bottom of this page.

Looking Back at the 55th Annual Candlelight Tour

HFFI celebrated America’s 250th birthday in historic downtown Fredericksburg through our 55th Annual Candlelight Tour. We stepped back in time for a Colonial Christmas experience while learning about the people and places that enrich the story of our city at the most magical time of year!

Guests visited the city’s most iconic Colonial sites, each beautifully decorated in historic fashion, and walked in the footsteps of American patriots; those steps included Generals George Washington, George Weedon, and Hugh Mercer, James Monroe, and other local revolutionaries.

The 2025 Candlelight Tour highlighted the sites and stories of 18th-century Fredericksburg, featuring the Mary Washington House, Fielding Lewis’s 1749 store, the James Monroe Museum, St. George’s Episcopal Church and cemetery, the 1785 silversmith’s house—now home to the Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts, and the circa-1770 Richard Johnston Inn. Additional exterior tour stops across the city marked important places on Fredericksburg’s Colonial-era landscape and share some of the history that fueled local residents’ commitment to the cause.

A special and limited addition to the 55th Annual Candlelight Tour was the Evening Cocktail party. Guests toured the Historic Smithfield mansion (now Fredericksburg Country Club), formerly owned by the Brooke and Pratt families, where General Washington and his mother visited. Historic reenactors joined the party in the festive front parlors. Guests were able to enjoy two drink tickets, and an array of appetizers, and holiday music brought to them by Norman Voss.

Another special and limited addition to the 55th Annual Candlelight Tour was Kim Harmon’s intriguing 60-minute walking ghost tour. Tours were limited and began at the corner of Princess Anne & George Streets, taking guests through an informative tour around Historic downtown Fredericksburg.

A ticket was valid for both days of the tour – guests were allowed to come and go as time allowed. An official guidebook with rich history pertaining to the locations of the 55th Annual Candlelight Tour was given to each guest, but extras are available for pickup at the Lewis Store during operating hours.

This year’s tour includes many of our state and local VA 250 partners, bringing together the area’s historical institutions, organizations, and historic preservation professionals to share some of the Revolutionary-era stories, places, and spaces that make Fredericksburg a most historic city!