Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site is pleased to welcome back St. Nicholas—also known as Sinterklaas—this holiday season for our annual St. Nicholas Day Celebration. The event will be on Saturday, December 6, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site (29 Warburton Avenue).
Philipse Manor Hall’s St. Nicholas Day Celebration is based on the Catholic feast day of Turkish bishop St. Nicholas of Myrna, which became a popular Dutch holiday in the 17th century. Join us for a visit from St. Nicholas himself, historical games, ornament crafts, gingerbread decorating, live music, and more!
Featuring live music and stories with storyteller April Armstrong, accompanied by Mario Sprouse on piano.
Award winning storyteller April Armstrong weaves melodies and words for a refreshing and compelling style of storytelling. Her story programs are fun and interactive. She tells stories for schools, colleges, libraries, museums and festivals. She tells multi-cultural folktales, including African-American and Latino stories. April's stories delight, inform and inspire audiences of all ages.
See the full schedule at https://www.philipsemanorhall.com/programs-and-events/st-nicholas-day-celebration-2025
All crafts, gingerbread decorating, and admission are free and open to everyone, sponsored by the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall. Pre-registration is not required, but all children must be accompanied by an adult.
About Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, located at 29 Warburton Ave., Yonkers, NY, 10701, is open for tours Wednesdays through Sundays, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Dating back to the 1680s, Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site sits near the confluence of the Nepperhan (Saw Mill) and Hudson Rivers, the site of a Munsee Lunaape village. Used by four generations of the Philipse family and worked by the people they enslaved as well as European tenant farmers, the Philipse Manor was once over 200,000 acres and helped make the Philipse family the richest in New York. Loyalists during the American Revolution, they fled to England and the Hall was owned by several individuals before becoming the Yonkers Village Hall and later Yonkers City Hall. When a new City Hall was built in the early 20th century, the house was preserved through the generosity of Eva Smith Cochran and donated to New York State to serve as a historic site. Today, Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site provides visitors with a balanced approach to interpreting the lives of Indigenous, European, and African people to understand the complex relationships that took place at the Manor from the earliest days of the Dutch Colony of New Netherland to the American Revolution and beyond. Learn more at Philipse Manor Hall's Virtual Wing at www.philipsemanorhall.com.
About the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall
The Friends of Philipse Manor Hall, Inc. is dedicated to supporting and enhancing Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site. Friends of Philipse Manor Hall offers a variety of events and activities throughout the year, from family-friendly festivals to lectures, concerts, and movie nights. The organization’s goal is to foster public interest in and support for Philipse Manor Hall, to make PMH more accessible and inviting to the local community, and to provide funds and volunteers for programs and activities offered by the site staff. Learn more at www.friendsofphilipsemanorhall.org.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, and welcomes over 88 million visitors annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, visit parks.ny.gov, download the free NY State Parks Explorer app or call 518.474.0456. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, the OPRHP Blog or via the OPRHP Newsroom.
