While it feels like we just packed away our bathing suits and white pants, summer has been gone for a few months. Fall has somehow rolled through faster than ever and we’re a week away from officially entering the holiday season. We know, our team cannot believe it either! From what we understand, this is a short shopping season given how the calendar falls so it feels like we’ve been hit earlier than ever with ads, decorations and all things to get us into the holiday spirit. As reluctant as we were to jump on board, we’re always down for a party and that’s what this time is all about. With Thanksgiving next week, we’re looking at Queens and we’re thinking food. But, beyond the turkey!
The event takes place at the New York Hall of Science in Queens. Yes, that means you may have to travel. It’s called GingerBread Lane and is the record-holder of the Guinness World Records for largest gingerbread village. Impressive, yes? To understand the feat, in order to be eligible for the title, every element of the gingerbread display must be edible, and the display must imitate a village with houses, shops and town services such as a firehouse and police station. Creator Jon Lovitch will again try to break his own record with this year’s GingerBread Lane.
Every year, Lovitch designs, bakes and decorates all of the structures for GingerBread Lane in his home in Queens, N.Y. When Lovitch gets an idea for a building in GingerBread Lane, the first sketches it out in a notepad and then brings it to life with frosting and candy that he purchases throughout the year. Part of the fun of GingerBread Lane is seeing the various ways that candy is used to decorate the houses: pieces of gum become brick walls, candy canes become railings on staircases, and M&M’s, candy corn, jelly beans, and Necco Wafers become colorful rooftop shingles.
This year’s GingerBread Lane includes a number of storefronts with quirky names: Eleven Pipers Piping – Piping Hot Soup, My Two Front Teeth General Dentistry, Visions of Sugar Plums Eye Glasses, and Letters to Santa – GingerBread Lane’s Post Office.
It kicks off this weekend and runs through January 12, 2020. You won’t want to miss history! And, its free with museum admission! For more information, visit https://nysci.org/event/gingerbread-lane/