Old Bethpage Village Restoration's "Candlelight Evenings" have become the hallmark of the holiday season. This special program will once again allow visitors to experience and enjoy a 19th century Long Island Christmas.

Candlelight evenings will be presented from 5 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday evenings, Dec. 19 and 20 and Saturday through Wednesday, Dec. 26 through 30. On these days, the village will be closed during the daylight hours.

The village will enchant visitors at this special time of the year, when flickering candlelight shows from inside at least seven of the restored buildings. 19th Century musical entertainment will be provided by the famous Old Bethpage Village Singers, who will perform several times each evening in the village's Fair Exhibition Hall. Other musical entertainment, which will vary by date, will take place at the Noon Inn, the Manetto Hill Church and the Layton House. Performances may include fiddle, solo flute, melodeon or pump organ parlor music.

Magic Lantern shows will be held each night in the reception center auditorium. The Magic Lantern was a predecessor of today's slide projector, entertaining Victorian Americans with hand-colored glass slides of famous persons, places and events, which often included humorous "moving" slides.

Visitors may stop to warm themselves around the bonfire in the village's crossroads, or stop in the District #6 schoolhouse to hear stories of Christmases on Long Island over 130 years ago. Hot, mulled cider and ginger cookies will be available at the Noon Inn for a small fee. An "old-fashioned turkey dinner" will be served for an additional cost of $7.95 (alternative dinner of hamburger, fries and beverage available for $5). For dinner reservations, call 505-9863.

An exhibit entitled "Santa Claus: A New York Tradition" will be featured in the village reception center. It will explore the role of New Yorkers in creating the American image of Santa Claus in the period from the 1850s to the 1870s. The exhibit will include prints, booklets and antique toys from the Nassau County Museum collections. Children will be able to express their Christmas wishes to a Santa Claus dressed as Clement Moore's Saint Nicholas of the 1830s. Each child will receive a stick of candy and parents may take a photo of the occasion. Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) will be visiting the village only during the candlelight evenings prior to Christmas Day.

A visit to Old Bethpage Village Restoration would not be complete without a stop at one of the museum stores, which are operated by the Friends for Long Island's Heritage, the museum support organization. The Luyster Store in the village offers reproductions of items available between 1815 and 1880. The Museum Shop in the reception center offers a wide array of items relating to American history and museum programs, as well as Christmas decorations, toys, preserves, books and tinware.

Old Bethpage Village Restoration, operated by the Museum Services Division of the Nassau County Department of Recreation and Parks, will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The village will close for approximately eight weeks following the final candlelight evening on Dec. 30 and will reopen on March 3.

The village is located on Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage, one mile south of Long Island Expressway Exit 48. Normal operating hours (other than candlelight evenings) are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for children ages 5 - 12, resident senior citizens, veterans, physically challenged and volunteer firefighters, ambulance corps and auxiliary police. Parking is free. For further information, call 572-8400.