Yuletide At Liberty Hill Features Ice Skating, Boutiques, Penns Wood Winery, Live Music, And Santa

by Melissa Jacobs

Heading to Yuletide At Liberty Hill? Here’s what you need to know.

• Yuletide At Liberty Hill is Nov. 22 – Jan. 5.
• The address is Union Leauge At Liberty Hill, 800 Ridge Pike, Lafayette Hill, PA.
• Yuletide is open Fri. – Sat. from 3 pm – 10 pm and Sun. – Thu. 3 pm – 9 pm.
• Single day adult ticket is $30, which includes rides, live music and photos with Santa.
• Tickets for kids ages 9 years old and younger are $23, which includes rides and live music, plus photos with Santa.
• Season passes are $72 for adults and $54 for kids ages 3 – 8 years old. Kids under age 3 can enter for free.
• Tickets are required for the ice skating rink and cost $26.30 per person, which includes ice skate rental.
• Food and beverage options are not included in ticket prices.
• Parking is free and there is a complimentary shuttle to the entrance from the parking lots.
• Heat lamps and fire pits are placed throughout Yuletide, but it is an outdoor venue. Plan accordingly.
• For more information, visit Yuletide At Devon.

What’s the story behind the story of Yuletide? Read how Yuletide started in 2023 at the Devon Horse Show.

Rob Bickhart was driving down Lancaster Ave. with his son Jes during an otherwise typical Christmas week. They passed the Devon Horse Show, dark and shuttered for the winter. “Jes said, ‘Dad, we should do something with it,’” Rob Bickhart remembered. “’We should produce something. Something big.’”

Entertainment – specifically being a producer – has been Jes’s passion since he was a child. “We went to see Narnia: The Musical in New York when he was a little kid,” Rob said. “I remember Jes holding my hand as we walked down 42^nd Street. He looked up at me and said, ‘I want to do that.’ He didn’t mean acting. He meant producing.”

Now, the father and son who were captivated by The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe’s tale of Narnia, a land where “it’s always winter but never Christmas,” are bringing a new Christmas tradition to the Main Line. From Nov. 24 – Dec. 31, the grounds of Devon Horse Show will be transformed into Yuletide At Devon, a holiday market and entertainment festival.

Twinkling with more than 7 ½ miles of garland and lights, Yuletide At Devon will feature an enchanted forest with 800 Christmas trees and spectacular decorations from the company that creates Rockefeller Center’s winter extravaganzas. In addition to a wide variety of live musical performances from nationally-known performers, the festival will offer holiday-themed food and drink experiences. Yuletide will also feature a carefully curated collection of retail stores featuring small businesses and artisans.

Creating the winter wonderland is a $3.2 million venture for the Bickharts and their investors. Since it was announced several weeks ago, Yuletide has generated tremendous interest and support from the Main Line and well beyond.

But it also generated rumors. Can Devon Horse Show’s infrastructure support a 30-day festival? Is there a good reason why the venue has not been open during winter? Are all of the permits in place?

They are. During a 3-hour interview, Rob Bickhart answered every question and squashed a cornucopia of rumors, offering extensive details about the operations and management of Yuletide At Devon and the festival’s genesis.

The story starts in 2019. During that Christmas, the Bickharts decided to do something about their dream for Devon. They had breakfast with Henry E. Hill III, president of the Union League of Philadelphia, and Wayne Grafton, chairman and CEO of Devon Horse Show. Jes presented their idea for a holiday festival similar to European winter markets.

“Harry said, ‘If we made a dollar between the time dressage closes in Sept. and the horse show opens in May, it would be a dollar more than we make now,’” Rob recounted. “That’s one of the big things that’s not considered about Devon Horse Show. It doesn’t make money if it’s empty.”

But who would take on that challenge? The Bickharts seem like the perfect dynamic duo. Jes is a producer in Los Angeles with extensive connections in the entertainment industry. Rob produced events like the Pope Francis’s 2015 visit to Philadelphia, and he created THON when he was a sophomore at Penn State. Last year was the 50^th anniversary of THON, which has raised $220 million to care for children and families dealing with pediatric cancer. “I’ve known Rob since he was an SAE brother,” Le Vine said. “What he launched with THON has truly changed lives.”

Boosted by those enthusiastic responses, the Bickharts moved forward with their concept for Yuletide. They asked about possible blowback from neighbors (there isn’t any) and investigated the electricity and plumbing aspects of the facility (which poses no problems whatsoever). “Wayne said that the biggest issue would not be from Devon Horse Show, but obtaining permits from Easttown Twp.,” Rob said.

That proved to be true. In fact, the Bickharts planned to open Yuletide At Devon in November 2022. “We were moving full steam ahead. Then, I got an email in July 2022 saying, ‘We’d like you to do this in 2023.’” Rob  responded that preparations were already underway. “The email response was: “We look forward to talking to you in July 2023.’”

Stymied, the Bickharts considered taking their festival to different locations. They toured several options, but none of them felt exactly right. “Our vision was to have it in Devon, and to start over with the permitting wouldn’t make sense,” Rob said. “In the end, Devon was where we wanted to have it.”

The Bickharts finally got their permits in June 2023. And they inked a 3-year deal with Devon Horse Show. Just one problem: Easttown Township gave them only a one-year permit. “They want to see how it goes and I understand that,” Rob said. “This is a brand new venture. And since that happened, Easttown Township has been an incredible advocate for Yuletide At Devon.”

Yuletide At Liberty Hill is Nov. 22 – Jan. 5. For general information, visit this website.

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