Saturday, Oct. 10 was the bright day of Harvest Days. While it lasted, Farmer Jake and Landis Valley's new draft team, Archer and Adeline, harrowed a field for winter rye in front of more than 1,850 visitors. The museum's own Harvest Days 2026 recap says the team stopped often to answer questions about the horses, the new harness and how much weight a pair like that can pull. The next day it rained from morning to close. The site stayed open, but the Farm Program had to cancel its outdoor demonstrations, and Heirloom Seed Project volunteers sold crafts, popcorn and mulled cider to the visitors who came out anyway.
The rye will sit in that field through winter at 2451 Kissel Hill Road. Harvest Days was the museum's last big crowd of 2026. From here to early December, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum runs on short classes with limited seats, where you leave holding something you made: an ornament, a tray of candy, a wooden rake, a stained-glass star.
The Season Changed Before the Calendar Said So
By most measures Harvest Days is Landis Valley's busiest October weekend. On Oct. 10 and 11 the museum advertised farming and craft demonstrations, family activities, live music and seasonal food, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. LancasterOnline's photo report showed a corn maze, a pumpkin patch, the draft horses harrowing, cooks making chicken corn pie, soup and pot pie, and a pig butchering demonstration.
Bluebell, a family milk cow owned by a friend of the Farm Program, was the weekend's guest. She visits for Harvest Days every year. According to the museum, she is pregnant again and due in February.
The museum describes its year as following the seasons. The large festivals are the Herb & Garden Faire in May and Harvest Days in October, and smaller workshops and lectures run in between "for those who want a closer, more personal experience." Through November, that closer format is nearly the whole calendar.
What It Costs to Take Part
The new schedule has a wide range of prices. Posted general admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors 65 and older and AAA members, $8 for ages 3 to 11, and free for children 2 and under. The fall programs start a little below that adult rate and go up from there, depending on how much you want to make.
| Date | Program | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Oct. 30 | America 250 lecture, William Woys Weaver | 6 to 7:30 p.m. | $10; free for LVA members |
| Thu., Nov. 5 | Hands-On History Day | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | $13; free for LVA members and kids 5 and under |
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Needle Felted Cookie Cutter Ornaments | 10 a.m. to noon | $55 to $60 |
| Fri. to Sun., Nov. 6 to 8 | 2026 Fall Institute: From Fleece to Fabric | Multi-day | $300 to $325 |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Make a Rake | 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | $230 to $250 |
| Wed., Nov. 18 | America 250 keynote, John Kolar | 6 to 7:30 p.m. | $10; free for LVA members |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | PA German Christmas Candy Workshop | 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m. | $60 to $70 |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Beginner Stained Glass Christmas Star | 1 to 4 p.m. | $76 to $86 |
The museum frames a lecture as an evening out, and the low price fits that. The workshops cost more because you go home with what you made. The Make a Rake class takes a full Saturday of green woodworking and ends with a finished wooden hay rake, and it doesn't require any woodworking experience. The Fall Institute, From Fleece to Fabric, is the longest commitment of the season, with three days spent turning wool into cloth.
Two Evenings That Start at 5:30
Both lectures belong to the museum's America 250 Lecture Series, which it runs in a "Happy Hour" format. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The evening includes light refreshments, the talk, Q&A and discussion, and time to socialize. Members can also watch live or on demand online.
On Friday, Oct. 30, food historian William Woys Weaver presents "Foods of the Pennsylvania Dutch: 1700–2026 and Beyond." It comes three weeks after the Harvest Days cooks made chicken corn pie for the crowd, and the talk carries that same subject through to 2026.
On Wednesday, Nov. 18, John Kolar speaks on "Lancaster Gunsmiths of the Early Republic." His talk is the keynote for the Landis Valley Associates annual meeting. The museum describes it as a preview of a major exhibition on the same subject that is coming soon. No opening date has been posted. The Nov. 18 audience gets the first look at what is likely the museum's next large project.
A Thursday That Works Like a Small Festival
Hands-On History Day on Thursday, Nov. 5 is the closest the fall calendar comes to Harvest Days, and it is still built around making things. It runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and includes three interactive 30-minute workshops on the one-room schoolhouse, wool processing and Pennsylvania German scherenschnitte, the folk art of cut paper. There is also an orientation video, building tours led by costumed interpreters and craftspeople, buildings you can explore on your own, and a scavenger hunt across the whole site.
Admission is $13, one dollar more than posted adult general admission, and the three workshops are included. Landis Valley Associates members and children 5 and under get in free. Only school groups need reservations. It falls on a weekday, which makes it a good fit for a flexible schedule or a day off from work.
Christmas Starts With Ornaments and Candy Molds
In November the workshops turn to the holidays. The first is Friday, Nov. 6, when the beginner needle-felting class supplies materials for three cookie-cutter ornaments in two hours. Because the work uses sharp needles, it is recommended for ages 16 and up.
The PA German Christmas Candy Workshop on Saturday, Nov. 21 has the strongest local connection. It covers the history of clear toy candy and other Pennsylvania German holiday sweets. Participants work in teams with historic molds and make clear toy, frosted church glass, molasses and potato candies. There are two sessions, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Participants must be 18, or 16 with a parent.
The last dated program of the year is Saturday, Dec. 5, when Pat Garbisch teaches a beginner stained-glass Christmas star from 1 to 4 p.m. After that, the museum's calendar jumps to March 2027, when the Spring Institute sheep-shearing sessions with Joe Schott begin.
The December Date That Hasn't Been Posted
The museum's events page still describes an Annual Holiday Bonfire in December. As of Oct. 19, no 2026 date appears on the calendar. The bonfire's own event page is not loading. According to a 2019 holiday roundup from Kauffman Orchards, the bonfire that year was a free evening from 6 to 8:30 p.m. It had caroling with the Lititz Moravian Trombone Choir, wagon rides, tours of the decorated historic buildings, and cookies and hot cider in the Yellow Barn, and the museum asked visitors to bring a donation for a food bank. Whether 2026 follows that format depends on what the museum announces. Its events calendar and its Facebook and Instagram accounts are where a date would show up first.
Before You Go
- Posted hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday.
- Holiday closures: Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. In 2026, that means the museum is closed Nov. 26 and 27, five days after the candy workshop.
- Reduced admission: Museums for All admission is $2 per person. Prices for special events may differ from general admission.
- The museum store: Posted April through December hours match the museum's. It sells handcrafted pottery, carved wood, fiber arts, forged metal, jewelry, cards, books, local artwork and heirloom seeds grown by the Heirloom Seed Project.
If you buy from that seed shelf in December, you'll be taking home the work of the same volunteer program that got the gardens ready and sold popcorn and cider at Harvest Days.
Places like Landis Valley shape what a week in Neffsville looks like, and Josh Wood keeps track of them along with the market. If you're thinking about a move in or around Manheim Township and want an advisor who knows what's on the calendar down Kissel Hill Road, Schedule a Private Consultation.
