Bergen County - River Edge - Brigid's Day and Candlemas

Are the days too frigid and the nights too long for you at this time of year? Is darkness depressing and the cold’s in your bones? One solution is a trip to the tropics, but if that doesn’t fit your schedule, come celebrate Brigid’s Day and Candlemas at Historic New Bridge Landing along the Hackensack River in River Edge on Sunday from 1:00 - 5:00 pm. Escape the winter blues as people did for over a thousand years in celebrations of warmth, light, and music. Sit in the main room of the 267-year-old Steuben House and tap your feet to Irish music played by The Racket River Girls. With fiddle, guitar, concertina, and harmonious vocals, they’ll transport you back to old Ireland; you’ll swear you smell the peat fire! Performances are at 1:30 and 3:30 pm. We are rolling out new exhibits in the Steuben House featuring BCHS’s collections of New Netherland and Jersey-Dutch artifacts including artifacts we received from the George Way estate. Several items, for example, a large trivet, are marriage relics featuring hearts. George Way was a collector of 16th and 17th-century material culture. Jonathan Friedman benefited BCHS with several objects after Way’s passing. Make sure to stop by the Out-Kitchen to see how candle-making was done; drop in the tavern for some seasonal refreshments or a peek at the treasures in the gift shop. Wee ones with you? They can make an authentic brideog (a Brigid’s Day doll) from corn husks or fashion an Irish Brigid’s Cross from reeds. As always, the eighteenth-century stone houses will be open with knowledgeable interpreters to help you understand the lives of earlier Bergen residents. Brigit’s Day and Candlemas come midway between the winter solstice and spring equinox, when snowdrops, the first flower of spring, make their appearance, signaling nature’s awakening from winter’s sleep. Candlemas is named for the blessing of candles, used to protect homes and for a procession through farm field and orchard. As evidenced by Groundhog’s Day, weather prognostication was commonly practiced in anticipation of spring sowing. Good weather at Candlemas is taken to indicate severe winter weather later. Hence, the saying, “If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year. Another old English proverb proclaimed, “If Candlemas be fair and bright, winter has another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, winter will not come again.” Rush crosses, woven for Brigid’s Day, were believed to protect house and livestock from adversity. All three Jersey-Dutch Houses will be open for tours, with refreshments available in the Campbell-Christie Tavern for an additional charge. Admission: $12 adult, $7 students 6-22 years old, and BCHS members free. Historic New Bridge Landing is located at 1201-1209 Main Street, River Edge, NJ. For more information, call 201-343-9492 or visit www.bergencountyhistory.org.