The first free horse-drawn carriage ride of the season leaves from First Church, 250 Main Street, on Friday, November 20, at 11 a.m. That is two weeks before Santa crosses to the Main Stage at Holidays On Main. The Town of Wethersfield is working with Double M Ranch Horse Drawn Carriage Rides to run them on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through December 27. The town credits the Wethersfield State Delegation with securing the funding.
The carriage schedule sets the pace for the season, and the Main Street stops near the launch point have changed this year. For the first weekend, the lineup still looks familiar. From Thanksgiving weekend on, the stop open during every ride is Heirloom Market at Comstock Ferre.
Two Routes, Split by Day of the Week
Where you get on, and what you see, depends on the day. The town's carriage ride listing sets out the routes:
- Fridays and Saturdays: Rides leave from in front of First Church at 250 Main Street and follow Main Street to River Road and back.
- Sundays: Rides leave from Wethersfield Green and circle the Broad Street Green.
- Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on every ride day, first come, first served, and free.
- Vehicles: Some rides use a small, old-fashioned carriage for smaller groups. Others use a slightly larger hay-ride-style wagon.
Snow or ice can cancel a ride day, and the town says canceled dates may be made up in January. The Town of Wethersfield website is where those changes get posted.
The Friday and Saturday route runs south past most of Old Wethersfield's Main Street storefronts, so on those days a ride works well paired with a stop on foot before or after. The Sunday loop stays on the Broad Street Green, and Main Street's hours on Sundays are shorter, as the next sections show.
| Carriage weekend | Also on the calendar |
|---|---|
| Nov. 20–22 | Winter Decor with Foraged Plants at Webb-Deane-Stevens, Sat. Nov. 21, 2–3 p.m.; last full weekend for Main Street Creamery |
| Nov. 27–29 | Thanksgiving weekend; Creamery closed for the season |
| Dec. 4–6 | Holiday Evening Tours Fri. and Sat.; Holidays On Main Sat. Dec. 5 |
| Dec. 11–13 | Holiday Evening Tours Fri. and Sat. |
| Dec. 18–20 | Final Holiday Evening Tours Fri. and Sat. |
| Dec. 25–27 | Rides scheduled for Christmas Day and the two days after |
Ice Cream Gets One Carriage Weekend
Main Street Creamery & Cafe, at 271 Main Street, lists its hours as 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, and Wednesday, November 25, is its last day of the season. That makes November 20 through 22 the only carriage weekend with the Creamery open. A ride from First Church on Friday or Saturday ends a short walk from its counter.
The Creamery's 2026 Advent calendars have already sold out. They came in an adult size with twelve 8-ounce cups for $70, a kid size with twelve 4-ounce cups for $50, and a puppy version with 12 pup cups for $20. All calendars must be picked up in person on Tuesday, November 24, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., or Wednesday, November 25, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Those pickups fall on the last two days before the shop closes for the season.
Main Street's sit-down options have also changed. The Charles, at 161 Main Street, closed permanently after dinner service on Monday, November 2. The restaurant had been in Old Wethersfield for six years, in a historic house once home to E.G. Robbins.
Two newcomers are in the works on the same stretch. The Connecticut Scoop reported in July that Brew & Bloom, a tea house, was planned for 164 Main Street. That month the Scoop also reported that Ortigia Ristorante, a Sicilian restaurant, won approval for the historic Chester Buckley House at 184 Main Street.
Heirloom Market Is Open During Every Ride
On ride days, the Main Street stop with the longest hours is Heirloom Market at Comstock Ferre, at 263 Main Street. Its posted hours:
- Monday to Wednesday: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Thursday and Friday: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Saturday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Sunday: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Rides run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., so Heirloom is open for the full ride window on all three days. On Fridays and Saturdays it stays open five hours after the last carriage leaves. On Sundays, when rides start from Wethersfield Green, Heirloom closes an hour after the last ride.
Heirloom also hosts a Poetry Open Mic on Thursday, December 3, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., according to the Historic Wethersfield venue calendar. That is the night before the first Holiday Evening Tours and two days before Holidays On Main.
Village Pizza runs an ordering site for lunch and dinner from the same 263 Main Street address. A few doors north, the Old Wethersfield Country Store is at 221 Main Street.
December 4 and 5 Stack Three Calendars
The third carriage weekend is the busiest weekend of the season in Old Wethersfield. Rides run Friday through Sunday, the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum opens its first Holiday Evening Tours on Friday and Saturday, and the Wethersfield Chamber of Commerce and the town hold the 15th Annual Holidays On Main on Saturday, December 5, from 1 to 6 p.m.
Holidays On Main spreads along Main Street. Craft vendors line the street, food trucks park in the Keeney Center lot, and the Beer Garden is on the Webb Deane Stevens grounds. The Old Wethersfield Shopkeepers will have their stores open, and hot chocolate is served at the Keeney Center, First Church and Trinity Church. The posted program runs in roughly this order:
- Community caroling opens the afternoon.
- The Winter Wonderland photo spot at the Keeney Center, DJ Brian Skibo, a fire juggler and horse and buggy rides run through the day.
- Santa Claus visits the Webb Barn, and the Keeney Museum and Hurlbut Dunham House are open to visitors.
- The Connecticut Belles sing holiday songs at 3:30 p.m.
- At about 5 p.m., Santa heads to the Main Stage.
- The tree lighting is scheduled for about 5:15 p.m.
Heirloom stays open until 8 p.m. that Saturday, so it is still open after the 5:15 tree lighting, which comes near the end of the 1-to-6 p.m. event.
After Dark, the Season Moves Into the Museum Houses
Carriage rides end at 3 p.m., and Holidays On Main ends at 6. The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum's Holiday Evening Tours start that same evening. The guided night tours of the museum's three historic houses trace how modern holiday traditions developed over hundreds of years, with decorated trees in the period rooms. Each tour starts in the old Webb House kitchen with cider and holiday treats.
The tours run three weekends: December 4–5, 11–12 and 18–19, at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. each night. Here are the details from the museum's listing:
- Group size: Limited to 12 per tour.
- Ages: Appropriate for adults and children 13 and older. Tours include walking and climbing stairs.
- Price: $35 for the general public, $30 for NSCDA-CT and WDS Museum members.
- Booking: Pre-registration is required, and tickets are non-refundable.
The Museum Gift Shop is open on tour evenings, with books, ornaments, candles, children's toys, handcrafted items and host gifts. The museum has an earlier daytime program on the first carriage weekend, too. Winter Decor with Foraged Plants runs on Saturday, November 21, from 2 to 3 p.m., and ends at the same hour the day's carriage rides do.
The Keeney Memorial Cultural Center has a longer-running option. The Wethersfield Historical Society is hosting a traveling American Revolution exhibit there through Sunday, March 7, so it stays up well after the last carriage ride on December 27.
Through December 26, the carriages run from First Church to River Road and back every Friday and Saturday. If you live along that route and want to know what your Old Wethersfield home is worth, Meghan Girard can prepare a figure based on current local data. Request Your Instant Home Valuation.
