Find Events For Your Visit

Engage with Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists as they search for evidence to inform the upcoming reconstruction of the Public Armoury.

This summer’s project will focus on areas used by James Anderson as he expanded his pre-Revolutionary blacksmith shop into a high-production armoury during the war years.

Weather permitting. 

A visit to this original house will give everyone a chance to get their "Hands on History." Children of all ages have an opportunity to try out various chores, lessons, toys, and games. Guests may enter and leave at will.

The orientation walk is designed to help guests plan their visit. Guides share the latest information on programming, dining, and shopping options. Guests get an overview of the 18th century community and learn about the restoration of Williamsburg. The experience lasts approximately 30 minutes.

Included in all Historic Area or Museum admission passes.  Tours depart every 10-15 minutes.

Ticketed event.

Experience life on the farm at Great Hopes Plantation where most of the free and enslaved population lived in Virginia before, during, and after the Revolution. Children (and their significant elders) get their hands on an array of activities related to farming, carpentry, and the domestic life of 18th-century small farmers and their enslaved workers.

Tickets: Adults $15.00; Youth (age 6-17) $15.00; Child (under 6) $7.50

PLEASE NOTE: No public restrooms on this site. Please plan accordingly.

Reservations or additional tickets required. Call 1-800-HISTORY for prices and reservations.

The Green Room is a place for actors to gather, talk, and share the latest theatrical news while waiting to go on stage. Come join members of our Performing Arts Department for an informal discussion of 18th-century theatre. This is your opportunity to voice your questions, comments, and curiosities.

Children between the ages of 3 and 7 explore Benjamin Powell’s property using familiar riddles and rhymes along with bits and pieces like a stub of candle or a hank of wool. Where did we get the wool—Baa! Baa! Can they jump the candlestick like Jack? How does the Powell garden grow? After their experience children and the rest of the family can take their time and visit the main house. They may even remember some other rhymes that fit the time and place.

Please Note: This tour is designed for non-reading or early reading pre-school and kindergarten children using 18th century nursery rhymes and discovery of artifacts and activities at the Benjamin Powell property. Children will become familiar with the nursery rhymes and the artifacts associated with each rhyme and will discover these artifacts and recite the rhyme associated with them during their exploration of the Powell property. Each child will experience the feeling of finding and claiming their own little piece of Colonial Williamsburg.

Due to limited space, free reservations are required for all children and accompanying family members.

See an extensive collection of American and British antiques. See furniture, metals, ceramics, glass, paintings, prints, firearms, and textiles from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries and the Public Hospital of 1773. Attend lectures and musical performances in the Hennage Auditorium. Visit the Museum Store and the Museum Café.

View Current Exhibits

Enjoy changing exhibitions of American folk art, the colonial and contemporary artists and craftspeople who work outside the mainstream of academic art to record aspects of everyday life. Attend lectures and musical performances in the Hennage Auditorium. Visit the Museum Store and the Museum Café.

View Current Exhibits

Programs and exhibitions at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum are supported by the DeWitt Wallace Endowment Fund.

A ball for Lady Dunmore at the Capitol provides an opportunity for romance. Will young Mister Randolph and Miss Nicholas begin their "dance?"

Children between the ages of 3 and 7 explore Benjamin Powell’s property using familiar riddles and rhymes along with bits and pieces like a stub of candle or a hank of wool. Where did we get the wool—Baa! Baa! Can they jump the candlestick like Jack? How does the Powell garden grow? After their experience children and the rest of the family can take their time and visit the main house. They may even remember some other rhymes that fit the time and place.

Please Note: This tour is designed for non-reading or early reading pre-school and kindergarten children using 18th century nursery rhymes and discovery of artifacts and activities at the Benjamin Powell property. Children will become familiar with the nursery rhymes and the artifacts associated with each rhyme and will discover these artifacts and recite the rhyme associated with them during their exploration of the Powell property. Each child will experience the feeling of finding and claiming their own little piece of Colonial Williamsburg.

Due to limited space, free reservations are required for all children and accompanying family members.

The Children's Orientation Walk is designed to assist guests with planning their visit and will highlight options that families will enjoy. Guides share the latest information on programming, dining, and shopping options. Guests will receive an overview of the 18th century community and specifically understand what childhood and family life was like in the 18th century. The walking tour lasts approximately 30 minutes.

Meet with landscape volunteers to ask questions and learn about period plants and their care in a Historic Area garden.

From October, 1765 to May, 1776 events take place in Williamsburg that change Virginians from servants of a distant monarch to citizens of a self-governing republic.  These events cause colonists to declare that they are no longer dependent on the British crown, but are citizens of the free and independent United States of America.

The Revolutionary City recreates these critical moments that relive Williamsburg's role in the American Revolution and the War for Independence.  Come take part in the everyday life of the city against the backdrop of these momentous, world changing historic events.

Meet famous patriots like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Patrick Henry, and lesser known people such as, Alexander Hoy, a poor man who enlisted in the army, enslaved African Americans like Kate, Hannah and Marcus who debate whether to escape to the British, and a Baptist preacher named Gowan who talks about his hopes for the future where all citizens are equal.

Meet the men and women – rich and poor, great and humble, free and enslaved – who live in these extraordinary times and create our nation.

Guests are free to come and go through the course of this two-hour event. 

Learn more.

Find out what to look for and how best to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Revolutionary City scenes and events that take place today.

Guided tours by knowledgeable museum volunteers introduce you to some of the masterworks on exhibit, such as paintings, ceramics, furniture and silver.

Included in museum admission ticket.

Programs and exhibitions at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum are supported by the DeWitt Wallace Endowment Fund.

In 1765, Richard Charlton’s Coffeehouse was a center of political debate, commercial transaction and social discourse. On October 30, 1765, Gentlemen of property, The Royal Governor, his Council, and George Mercer, Virginia’s appointed Stamp Distributor all converged at Charlton’s Coffeehouse. Is this the beginning of a Revolution?

The Children's Orientation Walk is designed to assist guests with planning their visit and will highlight options that families will enjoy. Guides share the latest information on programming, dining, and shopping options. Guests will receive an overview of the 18th century community and specifically understand what childhood and family life was like in the 18th century. The walking tour lasts approximately 30 minutes.

In the night of April 19 in 1775 Virginia’s Governor, Lord Dunmore removed the gunpowder from the Public Magazine. Some local patriots threatened retaliation. Several days later, as Peyton Randolph, president of the Congress prepares to leave for Philadelphia news arrives of the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Guided tours by knowledgeable museum volunteers introduce you to the whimsical and fascinating paintings, sculpture, textiles and more from Mrs. Rockefeller's original collection, for which the museum was founded.

Thirty-minute tours begin at 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. Included in museum admission ticket.

Programs and exhibitions at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum are supported by the DeWitt Wallace Endowment Fund.

May 15, 1776 – With the local Militia providing fife and drum fanfare and cannon salutes, the representatives of the free men of Virginia take the bold first step in breaking from Great Britain by passing resolutions for independence. They must now set about establishing a republican form of government!

This one-hour walking tour takes guests through the stable and carriage facilities and introduces them to the rare breeds conservancy program operated by Colonial Williamsburg. Guests will view the facilities, see some of the animals and view the various vehicles owned and operated here.

Discussion of animal treatment, training, equipment use and the Coach and Livestock operation is ongoing throughout the tour. This experience includes some hands-on activities, such as trying out a sidesaddle or inspecting a horse’s hoof. Children must be accompanied by adults at all times.  Space is limited.

Please make reservations at any on-site ticket location. 

Guided tours by knowledgeable museum volunteers introduce you to some of the masterworks on exhibit, such as paintings, ceramics, furniture and silver.

Included in museum admission ticket.

Programs and exhibitions at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum are supported by the DeWitt Wallace Endowment Fund.

The theater of the colonial era was often advertised as a "Moral Academy" where the audience could learn from the characters on stage.  Not all of the characters, however, were role models. 

The 18th-century stage is full of scheming, backstabbing, and intrigue.  You might be surprised to see how little things have changed in the last 250 years. This program focuses mainly on men's roles and famous actors of the time.

Engage with Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists as they search for evidence to inform the upcoming reconstruction of the Public Armoury.

This summer’s project will focus on areas used by James Anderson as he expanded his pre-Revolutionary blacksmith shop into a high-production armoury during the war years.

Weather permitting.