The Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory is one of those special places in Fort Wayne where you can spend quality time with family and friends while enjoying the best of what nature has to offer without ever having to leave the city. The conservatory carefully plans out each year’s activities, always conscious of the changing seasons and creating displays accordingly. This year’s Christmastime theme is Christmas Connections, on display Nov. 23-Jan. 5.
Christmas Connections aims to offer new opportunities for visitors to make those important connections and re-connections. While busy modern lives often separate friends and family members across schedules and distances, the gardens’ quintessential poinsettia tree, colorful holiday settings, and friendly light displays have always provided a wholesome traditional backdrop for the Fort Wayne community.
The Holiday Kick-Off Party gets things started Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving, and offers a chance to take photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, as well as the opportunity to visit with two live reindeer direct from Santa’s home at the North Pole.
This year’s hallway gallery will show a timeline of Christmas exhibits at the conservatory over the decades. You can enjoy viewing family photos sent in by local residents from recent years, identify holiday fragrances and the memories they might bring back, and send off a card to Santa in the seasonal “post office.” You can also catch a brief video of personal interviews of visitors sharing ideas about how to connect and the impact it can make.
In the atrium, enjoy beautiful poinsettias along with an illuminated outdoor display of lights and holiday music and use the gardens as a backdrop for family photos you’ll use to make Christmas connections in the future.
