200th Birthday Celebration!

2023 marked the 200th anniversary of the publication of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and we celebrated with very special launch events for the bilingual book series. Revisit the exciting media and event lineup here!

Christmas200 was launched in 2023, precisely 200 years after Clement Clarke Moore wrote the poem that would unveil precious secrets of Santa’s magical Christmas flight! We celebrated throughout the Capital District of upstate New York, where the holiday story was first published on December 23, 1823.

To celebrate this historic event, our international group of 80 volunteers translated the poem into 15 languages and 4 Italian dialects. Native speakers narrated our animated ebooks.

The White House joins the 200th birthday celebration:

Various festive decorations at the White House nodded to the iconography and story behind Clement Clarke Moore’s holiday poem.

Click to read the full story.

Photo by Caleb Perez on Unsplash

And King Charles from the United Kingdom:

King Charles, Maggie Smith, Ncuti Gatwa, and more read Twas the Night before Christmas aloud in celebration of its 200th birthday!

Click to watch the full video.

Photo by Dan on Unsplash

Image via The Economist

Special thanks to The Economist for their shoutout!

“Two hundred years on, merry misrule is safely consigned to memory, and Moore’s vision of Christmas has become widespread. Yet the poem has not yet reached its peak. Sally Veillette, a native of Troy, has commissioned new translations of the poem in 20 languages, including in Italy’s Sicilian dialect and India’s Malayalam. They are available in print and as animated e-books, complete with jingling holiday music…”

Read the Full Article on The Economist

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Festive Skit

In upstate New York, Troy’s Victorian Stroll was the highlight of our weeklong festivities that featured a multilingual skit written by Italian actor Massimo Leggio. The skit was set in the magical moments before Clement Clarke Moore finished writing ’Twas the Night Before Christmas—with Santa’s help!

Cast

Elf – Massimo Leggio, Italy

Clement Clarke Moore – David Greene, Vincenzo Nicosia

Mouse – Jacopo Giani

Father – Eric Schnee

Mother – Natasja Sluiter, The Netherlands

Daughter – Shayne Strano, Faith Engel

Reindeer 1 – Brandon Shnee

Reindeer 2 – Carter Weidman

Santa Claus / Mrs. Claus – Mark Gundrum, Sally Veillette

Understudies – Amaya & Emersyn Purrott

Support Staff – Cesare Maniccia

Victorian Stroll Press Coverage

200th Anniversary Events - December 2023

The Arts Center, Troy, NY

Marie Curie Institute, Amsterdam, NY

Crossgates Mall, Colonie, NY

Castle Island Bilingual Montessori School, Albany, NY

Elves Day Out, Canajoharie, NY

Victorian Stroll, Troy, NY

Rensselaer Chamber of Commerce Gala, Franklin Plaza, Troy, NY

Poster by Jacopo Giani, 13 y/o actor who played Mouse

Market Block Books

Market Block Books, on River Street in Troy, carries our holiday book series in all 20 languages.

Our books were on display on December 19, 2023, at New York City’s General Theological Seminary for the induction of Clement Clarke Moore into the NYS Writers’ Hall of Fame, honoring the 30 years that Moore spent there as a professor.

Photo via Wikipedia

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