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Grand Procession Commemorating the End of the Civil War
May 23, 2015, 6:00pm–May 24, 2015, 12:00am
This spring marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. And Green-Wood is proud to be the final resting place of over 5,000 Civil War veterans and other contributors to the war effort. For one night, Green-Wood will be transformed into a Civil War-era commemoration and festival, with the Grand Procession as the main event – a spectacular walk across Green-Wood’s grounds, aglow with 5,000 honorary candles, and featuring a brass band, artillery fire, a chorus, cavalry horses, and re-enactors in uniform.
The evening begins at 6:00 p.m. with Civil War music, period games, cooking demonstrations, and re-enactors in Green-Wood’s meadow. Then, beginning at 8:30 p.m. after the sun has set, join a procession past 5,000 candles, led by cavalry horses, musicians, uniformed re-enactors, and a Civil War artillery troop firing salute. After the procession has ended, seize this unique opportunity to stroll Green-Wood’s grounds until midnight, taking in the luminaries and commemorating the thousands of lives affected by this dramatic turning point in American history. Admission to Green-Wood’s new exhibition on the Civil War, To Bid You All Good Bye: Civil War Stories, will be free to all ticket holders throughout the night.
The Grand Procession covers about one mile. Walk may be hilly and strenuous. Appropriate clothing and shoes are recommended.
Also featured for one night only in Green-Wood’s Civil War-era Catacombs: a special artistic interpretation of the statistics, numbers, and information on the 5,000 Civil War contributors interred in Green-Wood. Project organizer and artist Michele Gorman has led a team of graduate students from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) to create visual representations of these veteran-related facts and figures. Presented in Green-Wood’s atmospheric catacombs, the artwork shows how the stories of an overwhelmingly large number of veterans can be considered together to create a new way to think about the casualties of war. The moving presentation, entitled This is My House of Green Grass: The Raw Retrieval of the Civil War, will be free to all ticket holders throughout the night.
$20 for members of Green-Wood and BHS/$25 for nonmembers.
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Click the “Enter promotional code here (members, use your ID#)” link in the bottom right corner of the ticket box and enter your ID number to apply your ticket discount. Please note that the Senior, Individual and Student membership levels are limited to only one Member Ticket per event (for additional tickets, please purchase at the regular price).
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