• Seasonal activities continue at Longwood Gardens this year with A Longwood Christmas. The annual display opens Nov. 18 and runs through Jan. 8. In addition to the light shows and seasonal floral displays, there will also be music in the air from the Longwood Organ and the 62-bell and five-octave Carillon. Timed tickets are required; buy them here.
• Winterthur, too, is getting into the holiday spirit with a 6-foot-long gingerbread version of the Winterthur mansion. There will also be a large, model train display, and a house tour featuring Christmas trees that were inspired by those displayed at the White House in 1961.
• Santa is on his way to Olde Ridge Village. The big guy and reindeer will be outside Giggybites from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26. Bring your own camera for pictures.
• West Chester University’s Opera Theatre presents Cinderella by Pauline Viardot on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. in the Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall, Philips Memorial Building, 700 S. High Street, West Chester. General admission tickets are $7 at www.wcupatix.com/schoolofmusic. Tickets for faculty, staff, students, and children under 12 are free.
• The Chester County History Center presents the story of The Red Rose Girls from 7-8 p.m. on Nov. 29. Artists Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and Violet Oakley captivated early 20th century Philadelphia with their brilliant careers and uncommon lifestyle. Nicknamed “The Red Rose Girls” by their mentor, illustrator Howard Pyle, they rented the Red Rose Inn on the city’s Main Line and set up an unconventional household. Joined by their friend Henrietta Cozens, the women forged an intense emotional bond and made a pact to live together forever. Author Alice A. Carter will recount the story of the Red Rose Girls against the backdrop of late-Victorian mores and the emerging women’s rights movement. This is a pay-as-you-wish event but registration is required.
• There will be more music in the air when the Delaware County Symphony presents Virtuosity and Variations- Symphony Concert on Dec. 4 at 3 p.m. The symphony concert will feature pianist Mark Livshits performing Sergei Rachmaninov’s beloved Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Also on the program will be the Hiawatha Overture by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The concert will be held in Neumann University’s Meagher Theatre. Tickets for the concert may be purchased at dcsmusic.org/tickets
