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Yosemite Heritage Holidays At The Ahwahnee


Due primarily to the economy, Yosemite Heritage Holidays was cancelled on August 4, 2009. Low forecasts for the first quarter of 2010 and the prospect of even lower numbers for 2011 due to a proposed partial (if not full) closure of the hotel for remodeling conspired for its demise. The event had been approved up to the time these elements came into the equation.

WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED

Yosemite Heritage Holidays sold out in 2008 and 2009. We proved that a well conceived event can fulfill the National Park Service's requirements for Interpretive Programs and still be entertaining and turn a profit. In this sense it was the most successful, site-appropriate event produced at The Ahwahnee in recent times. It could not have been done without the dedication, talent, and hard work of many hands (some of whom are listed below), the staff of The Ahwahnee, and especially Cherie Oliver of the Art Deco Society Of California.

WHAT IT WAS

National Park Service Historians ensure preservation of The Ahwahnee from the furniture to the slate roof. Born of the Art Deco era, the hotel graciously asserts its culture into the Yosemite Experience– but somethingis missing. Can The Ahwahnee’s interior be restored to full flower, if only temporarily, reviving the Art Decofashion, sound, and movement that designers and architects imagined for the hotel? That’s what YosemiteHeritage Holidays attempts. The air sings with loving re-creations of period music, the dance floor feels the reminiscent pulse of a waltz, elegant fashions absent for decades return to complement the décor, and vintage jazz echoes down the hall. Then, after this brief immersion in a culture that gave us The Ahwahnee, it may be possible to imagine more clearly what our own ephemeral culture will leave behind in Yosemite – in other words,we may be the subject of Yosemite Heritage Holidays in 2090!

THANKS

On behalf of the Yosemite community past and present, and our hundreds of guests you helped to joyfully dip into the stream of Yosemite history, to all of you who made Yosemite Heritage Holidays a reality, thanks, and happy trails to you!
-- Tom Bopp

VIDEOS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRESS




2009 Musical slideshow
2006 Photos
2006 - 2009 Photos
2011 FACEBOOK

A FEW OF THE PARTICIPANTS
The Royal Society Jazz Orchestra
Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys 
Frederick Hodges with singer Ann Gibson
Sara Klotz De Aguilar
Tom Bopp
Art Deco Society of California


A History of Yosemite Heritage Holidays
It started In August, 1998, when I wrote a proposal for the celebration of Camp Curry's 100th Anniversary. Seven months later I met Cherie Oliver, whose expertise and band of experienced presenters helped make the event a reality. Cherie then suggested a similar event for The Ahwahnee's 75th Anniversary in 2002. The rest is history, recounted in this 71 page pdf with original documents from the genesis of Yosemite Heritage Holidays.

Yosemite Heritage Holidays Mission Statement - Tom Bopp

The mission of Yosemite Heritage Holidays is simple: engage with all our senses the many dimensions that The Ahwahnee has to offer, indulge in great entertainment with real substance, share the Yosemite Experience of our ancestors and during moments of repose, contemplate our own place and value in the stream of Yosemite’s history. Past cultures still influence today’s Yosemite, and thecultural nature of our interaction with the environment will affect Yosemite’s future.