Blacksmithing, stained glass painting, Tibetan sand painting, icon writing, glassblowing, stone carving all at Glencairn April 21

Visitors to Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn will have a rare opportunity April 21 to see, in one afternoon and at one venue, artisans renowned for their expertise in the fields of stained glass painting, stone carving, glassblowing, Tibetan sand painting, blacksmithing, henna body art and icon writing. Three of them have ties to Hollywood.

Step back in time at Glencairn Museum’s Medieval Festival with demonstrations, music, pilgrimage…and dueling knights.

To attend the Medieval Festival at Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn on Feb. 3 is to experience life during the Middle Ages.

Musicians will entertain on a hurdy-gurdy and other instruments, while artisans paint glass and printers operate a Gutenberg-style press. Knights will duel with swords, and the devout will set out on a pilgrimage tour.

It’s all part of the demonstrations, exhibits and color of the Medieval Festival from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 3 at Glencairn, 1001 Cathedral Rd.

Exhibitions, tours, music, shopping, operational 1950s toy train The grandeur of the holiday season will sparkle brighter than ever in Bryn Athyn this year when Glencairn Museum presents “Nativity Festival 2012” featuring a series of events through Jan. 6, including the venue’s 75th annual Christmas Sing concert, “Christmas in the Castle” tours, a “Ten Thousand Villages” shopping experience, “Glad Tidings,” an afternoon of activities for the whole family, and an Epiphany program.

The Festival, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the museum, 1001 Cathedral Rd., will offer demonstrations using ink, paint, henna, glass and stone to create expressions of faith. Visitors also will see demonstrations of manuscript illumination and of a large replica Gutenberg-style printing press. And they can create their own designs with a quill pen and ink.

James Lawrence, an authority on Emanuel Swedenborg, who was a philosopher and theologian during that period, will explore the subject in a talk “Book of Revelation: End of the Bible and End of the World?” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at Glencairn Museum, 1001 Cathedral Rd., Bryn Athyn.

Starting July 7, 2010

MWF 2:30 | Saturdays 1:00, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:00 pm

Admission: $8 Adults, $6 Seniors (65+), $4 students (including college, with ID). Ask about group rates.

Take a guided tour of Glencairn, a museum of religious art housed in an historic home, at 2:30pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Guided tours are also available on Saturdays at 1:00, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:00pm. Tours last 90 minutes.

A celebration of historic proportions is planned for Saturday, April 18 in the small borough of Bryn Athyn in southeastern Montgomery County. With just about 1,350 residents and 1.9 square miles, Bryn Athyn has earned the attention of the United States Department of the Interior which designated a district within its boundaries one of 17 new National Historic Landmarks in 2008. Only two sites in Pennsylvania were awarded this designation in 2008, according to Patty Henry, a historian with the National Park Service’s National Historic Landmarks Program.*

It’s an encore performance, of sorts, when a Grammy-nominated musical group returns to Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn March 19 for an astounding performance featuring pianist Marcantonio Barone and the works of Antonin Dvorak and Sir Edward Elgar. Established in 1987, Wister Quartet is the core group of the Philadelphia chamber ensemble “1807 & Friends” which performs at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts.

Three decades after she started it, Eileen Finley finds it astonishing her children’s choir is as popular today as the day the group hit its first note. “I never could have imagined this,” said Finley, artistic director of the Pennsylvania Youth Chorale. “All I was doing then was filling in a couple of requests for singing groups that came from a high school director and from kids. It turned into this wonderful organization.”