Solar Spectacle: Three-Day Festival at GCV&M April 5-7, 2024
*The event has already taken place on this date: Sun, 04/07/2024
Please help us keep this calendar up to date! If this activity is sold out, canceled, or otherwise needs alteration, email mindy@kidsoutandabout.com so we can update it immediately. If you have a question about the activity itself, please contact the organization administrator listed below.
Explore the 19th-century eclipse experience
Programming in the Historic Village
Enjoy a once-in-a-century experience on Monday, April 8! As you make your way around our 19th-century Historic Village, explore how 19th-century Americans viewed, understood, and recorded total solar eclipses (there was a total solar eclipse in Rochester in 1860!).
- Learn about the connections between eclipses, the weather, and the US Navy in the Telegraph Office
- Visit the Print Office to see reproductions of 19th-century articles about eclipses in production
- Learn about women in science like Maria Mitchell (pictured here) when you visit the Romulus Seminary
- Write your own celestially-inspired poem and learn about Mary Loomis Todd in the One Room Schoolhouse
- Explore religious interpretations of celestial phenomena in the Shaker Trustees’ Building
- Delve into celestial photography in the Eastman Boyhood Home
- Learn all about 19th-century astronomical observation and scholarship in Rochester through historical figure Lewis Swift in the Livingston-Backus House
- and so much more!
Step into the science of solar eclipses
Programming in the Nature Center
Step into the science of total solar eclipses at our Nature Center! Join naturalists for fascinating programming during our eclipse event!
- Make your own pinhole camera
- Observe the skies through a telescope with the help of a naturalist
- Participate in an interactive “to-scale” eclipse model on the Great Meadow
- and so much more!
Totality Tasty
Food & Drink Offerings
Hospitality Package ticket purchasers will have access to day-long food and non-alcoholic drink by Partyman Catering (menu coming soon!), but we’ll also have a number of totality tasty food and drink offerings throughout campus, accessible to all visitors:
- 19th-century celestially-themed treats and baked goods in the D.B. Munger & Co. Confectionery
- Rohrbach’s Brewing Co. Totality Black Lager on draft
- Food and drink available in the Depot Restaurant
- GCV&M’s historical craft beers (Fat Ox Ale and Stocking Hill Ale) on draft
- and so much more!
Learn through art and Museum collections
Programming in the John L. Wehle Gallery
Make your way to the John L. Wehle Gallery to explore the concept of total solar eclipse and other celestial happenings throughout history using art, collections, and objects!
- Attend 19th-century-style Magic Lantern Shows (twice daily)
- Explore a brand new exhibit installation underway in our main gallery
- Enjoy the exhibit “Becoming Gendered: Garment as Gender Artifact”
- and so much more!
Make once-in-a-century memories
Make sure your eclipse weekend experience is one you’ll never forget!
Have a souvenir tin type photograph taken, purchase limited-edition GCV&M eclipse merchandise, and more.
Stay tuned for more exciting announcements about our exclusive eclipse merchandise.
*Times, dates, and prices of any activity posted to our calendars are subject to change. Please be sure to click through directly to the organization’s website to verify.