BY PUBLIC RELATIONS | JAN 5, 2024
George Washington House. (FP)
The Barbados National Trust is pleased to announce that its popular Open House programme is back on the winter season activities agenda, after a three-year pandemic pause.
It begins with Clifton Hall Great House on January 10 and continues through March 27, with twelve outstanding sites. The theme is Heritage, History and Houses.
Except for a special Saturday event suitable for children, Open Houses take place every Wednesday from 2;00 pm to 5:00 pm, at venues across the island.
These fund-raising events take patrons into grand private homes or “backstage” at public places, with value added by expert speakers, live music, local refreshments and stalls featuring books and fine craft. As there is always plenty to see, learn and enjoy, many patrons make an afternoon of it.
This year, the heritage preservation organization introduces a broader range of venues; a distillery, a garden, two churches and a farm are on the cards.
Since the mandate of the Trust includes preserving places of natural beauty and ecological importance, this year’s programme features for the first time, a unique farm. PEG Farm, which reclaims sugar-exhausted land with mixed-use, biodynamic methods, is also home to a productive medicinal herb garden, a progressive school, robust free-range chickens, and a market for their pasture-raised beef. This venue opens on Saturday so that families can enjoy this fun, educational and even inspiring outing.
Another very special Wednesday will be the opening of State House and its beautiful grounds, where Barbados’ enthusiastic President, Her Excellency, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason, displays her support for youth in the visual and performing arts.
The full schedule, with descriptions of and directions to each venue, is available on the Trust’s website. For further information, please call the Barbados National Trust at 426-2421 or 436-9033.
