Foods & Feasts of Colonial Virginia November 27-28, 2026 • Jamestown Settlement & American Revolution Museum at Yorktown

This Thanksgiving holiday, join in a family tradition by digging into the foodways of 17th- and 18th-century during Foods & Feasts of Colonial Virginia. Explore centuries-old culinary practices and cooking techniques of early Virginia.

Jamestown Settlement Foods & Feasts of Colonial Virginia

Paspahegh Town

See venison, turkey and other game roast over an open fire, while stews of corn, beans and squash cook in clay pots. Learn the importance of corn to the Powhatan Indians and the variety of dishes in which it was used, including corncakes and corn dumplings. Throughout the day, discover how Powhatan Indians made stone and bone tools used to obtain and prepare food.

James Fort

See the culinary skills English colonists brought to Virginia as historical interpreters bake bread in a Devon oven and demonstrate open-hearth cooking of pudding, pies and pottage, based on historical recipes of the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Ships’ Pier

Along the ships’ pier, explore how the colony was provisioned. Throughout the day, see typical sailors’ fare of salted fish and meat, biscuit and dried foods, and discover the kinds of fresh provisions that sailors picked up along their island stops on the way to Jamestown. Buy Tickets

American Revolution Museum at Yorktown Foods & Feasts of Colonial Virginia

Explore how Continental Army soldiers earned their rations and witness the bounty of produce and proteins fresh from the fields transformed into stews, pies and breads.

Enjoy cooking demonstrations throughout the day in re-creations of a Continental Army encampment and Revolution-era farm.

Continental Army Encampment

Discover how soldiers tried to turn meager rations of dried beans, salted meat and hard bread into nourishing soups and stews on an earthen kitchen modeled after specifications in Baron von Steuben’s 1779 “Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States.”

Revolution-era Farm

Living-history interpreters prepare a variety of 18th-century dishes, in the kitchen and by the quarters for enslaved people, using historical recipes from Virginia’s earliest cookbooks and open-hearth cooking techniques. See how their traditional fares were similar in some ways and different in others. Explore the methods used by farming families to preserve and store goods through the lean winter months.

Discover authentic colonial recipes of Virginia

Explore Centuries-Old Cooking Techniques at Foods & Feasts

Long before microwaves, electric stoves and refrigerators, early Virginians prepared meals in clay pots and iron kettles, and preserved food by smoking and salt curing.

This Thanksgiving holiday, dig into the foodways of 17th- and 18th-century America during Foods & Feasts of Colonial Virginia. Explore centuries-old culinary practices and cooking techniques of early Virginia during a two-day event, Friday and Saturday, November 28 and 29.

Below are events being held at both museums. First are the events at Jamestown Settlement followed by events at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.

^{Children ages 5 and under receive free admission to both museums. Residents of York County, James City County and the City of Williamsburg, including William & Mary students, receive complimentary admission with proof of residency.}

Admission

Children ages 5 and under receive free admission to both museums. Free admission for residents of York County, James City County and the City of Williamsburg, including William & Mary students, with proof of residency.

Explore the heart of our nation’s beginnings and discover the stories of America’s earliest adventures with a variety of ticket and package options.

For more information, call (888) 593-4682 toll-free or visit www.jyfmuseums.org/events/programs-activities/foods-feasts-of-colonial-virginia for more details.

Jamestown Settlement
2110 Jamestown Road,
Williamsburg, 23185

American Revolution Museum at Yorktown
200 Water Street,
Yorktown, 23690

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