“Scenery is a hollow enjoyment to the tourist who sets out in the morning after an indigestible breakfast and a fitful night’s sleep on an impossible bed.”-Stephen Mather
To that end, Stephen Mather cajoled, corralled, and called for NPS concessionaires to provide all the comforts of home—and more—to America’s growing traveling public.
Responding to the challenge, the Yosemite Park and Curry Company, under its president Don Tresidder, began construction of the landmark Ahwahnee Hotel which opened July 14, 1927 with Stephen Mather serving as Master of Ceremonies for the inaugural dinner.
A few months later at the Ahwahnee’s first Christmas, Tresidder launched a tradition that has grown, endured, and delighted guests for nearly a century—The Bracebridge Dinner!
Called “America’s, if not the world’s premier Christmas dinner,” by the Wall Street Journal, the Bracebridge Dinner is an evening of pageantry, music, and a seven-course feast held in the Ahwahnee’s dining room which is decorated to recall the baronial halls of England. In its first years, the portrayal of the comic Lord of Misrule was played by Ansel Adams. Adams then went on to continue direction of the pageantry for the next forty plus years.
Initially only held on Christmas and New Year’s Days, in 2024 Bracebridge Dinner will be held on eight evenings from December 10th to 23rd. Information can be found at bracebridgedinners.com
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