Candlelight Tours 2021
Candlelight Tours tickets will be sold ONLINE this year and sales will begin on September 16 at 6:00am. Tickets will be available for purchase on the events page of this website, and on the Eventbrite website. Check back here or on Facebook for updates.
Call or visit the Cemetery Center for additional information:
(434) 847-1465
What Are Candlelight Tours?
- Tours given at night by lantern and candlelight
- Professional actors in period costume
- True stories from local history
- All new stories every year—no-repeat scripts
- Tours conclude with refreshments and special exhibits of historical documents used to write scripts
- All proceeds benefit the historic preservation of Old City Cemetery (a non-profit organization)
Tour Dates & TIMES
October 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23
Thursdays: 6:10, 6:30, 6:50, 7:10, 7:30, 7:50
Fridays and Saturdays: 6:10, 6:30, 6:50, 7:10, 7:30, 7:50, 8:10
Sunday Matinee and Rain Date: October 24 at 3:00pm
Ticket Prices
$24 per person (age 18+)
$12 per youth (ages 8 to 17)
Plus an EventBrite convenience fee of $3.09 per ticket.
Sorry, there is no discount for senior citizens.
Link will be live Thursday, September 16th at 6:00am.
Candlelight Tours COVID Safety Protocols at Old City Cemetery All Audience, Staff and Volunteers to wear masks and maintain social distancing. This will be in all publicity materials and this will be posted on OCC web site. Guests will be required to sign waivers when they purchase tickets that they will “hold harmless” OCC if they become sick with COVID on the Tours. Parking –Marketing Staff to write instructions for volunteers who are directing parking on tour nights. –Main focus: parking directors to ensure visitors park along the roadside & maintain clear road for vehicles to drive through the Cemetery. Box Office (on site each evening, along driveway that goes to back of Comfort House, as guests arrive): OCC Staff and CT Production Assistants – will put tape as “X”’s in 6’ increments to mark social distancing between family groups in waiting area outside Box Office at rear of Comfort House. (Administrative Manager will purchase Theatre Spike Tape for this purpose.) –All OCC Staff, Box Office staff & volunteers to wear masks and gloves (Admin. Mgr. to purchase). — OCC to provide disposable masks & gloves, as needed, in Box Office and elsewhere. –All audience to wear masks in the Box Office area and on the Tours. –Production Manager & Staff to place COVID Safety Tips Signage around Comfort House Terrace area (tape to bathroom doors plus at Ticket Desk. –Administrative Manager to borrow free-standing COVID Safety signs used at City Museum events. –OCC to place hand sanitizer at regular stations behind Comfort House. –Inside the Box Office: max. of 2 people. –City Public Works Manager Kirk Schultz has authorized Austin Ziegler’s staff to clean the 2 Exterior Comfort House Restrooms (at the rear of the Comfort House) and Cemetery Center exterior restrooms on the mornings after each tour which would be these mornings: Saturday, Oct. 10, Monday, Oct. 12, Friday, Oct. 16, Saturday, Oct. 17, Monday, Oct. 19, Friday, Oct. 23, Saturday, Oct. 24, Monday, Oct. 16. Announcement to start each Tour –Executive Director will be stationed outside the Box Office, greeting guests, thanking sponsors, announcing start of each tour. –In advance, Marketing Staff to write & email to Rear Guides instructions for: where & when to meet, path to take up the hill, emergency phone numbers & plan. Rear guides will lead groups to the Veterans’ Memorial where Lucas Peed will greet them and offer introductory remarks. –Marketing staff (in costume) to welcome guests, thank sponsors, explain “rules” of the tours (wear masks, maintain social distancing, etc.), explain the plan and route for the tour, length of tour, end of tour at Station House. –Emergency Plan—Who to call first (Denise McDonald for guest emergencies, Kyle Lawhorn for CT Actor & staff emergencies) emergency phone numbers, etc. Administrative Manager to be sure First Aid kits & fire estinguishers are placed in: Golf Cart, Gator & Box Office. On the Tours: –Each actor and tour guide will have a microphone and speaker so that actor/guide can remain 12’ away from audience. Since they are outside and 12’ feet away, the actors/guides will not wear masks when they are speaking. Actors will have wireless headset microphones, with stationary speakers facing audience. Tour guides will have wired lapel microphones with portable shoulder-bag speakers. Each actor will have responsibility for his/her microphone and will keep it with his/her costume every evening and not share with anyone. Seating around each Actor/Gravesite: –Place chairs in pairs 6-feet apart (11 pairs of 2 and 1 group of 3) –Have 25 chairs at each performance station –Tech staff place Hand-Sanitizer Station at each spot (guests may use hand-sanitizer any time) –Tech staff to pick up hand-sanitizer and replace the next day for each night of tours. Outdoor Refreshments at End of Tour: –Tour guide will lead each group to the Train Station House at the end of each tour. –Administrative Manager is in charge of the refreshment station. Staff & volunteers will wear masks & gloves. –Admin. Mgr. will mark X’s on ground to encourage social distancing. –Pre-packaged Cemetery cookies will be served outdoors in front of Station House, plus hot cider previously poured into lidded cups. Small bottles water also available. –For COVID safety and due to our small buildings’ size, OCC will not offer an indoor museum option on the night of each tour this year. Instead, we will encourage the audience to go to our web site to view information on all Candlelight Tour characters, and to visit the Cemetery Center during regular day-time hours to see the exhibit on the Tours. Green Room (for actors, costumer designer, CT staff):- The Green Room (OCC library/meeting room) has adequate space for actors and Tech staff to prepare for the tours, store their costumes, etc. while maintaining social distance of 6 ft. apart. (max. 25 people, and the Tours have only 18 people total).
- All Actors & Staff to wear masks in the Green Room.
- OCC will provide each actor will be given his own Garment Bag & shoe/hat bin for his own Costumes. Actors will be advised not to touch each other’s costumes & props.
- Hand sanitizer will be available in the Green Room.
- CT Tech staff will do disinfecting at the end of each tour day for all lanterns.
- Costume department will sanitize the costumes each night and wash the layers closest to the skin.
- CT Production Manager or Assistants will do daily cleaning (with Lysol or Clorox) of Green Room table tops, counters, door knobs, handles, bathrooms, toilet seat, and any high-touch areas.
