VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS A walking tour focuses on Christmas in New York during the Victorian era. Stops include the spot where O. Henry wrote “The Gift of the Magi” and the area’s prime Christmas shopping location of the 1800s, Ladies’ Mile. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m., 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place, $13.

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED Van Cortlandt House comes alive in “Van Cortlandt by Candlelight: A Grand Illumination.” Costumed interpreters, winter holiday and Colonial-style decorations, and flaming cressets fill the house during the holiday event. The tour concludes with hot chocolate, cider, gingerbread cookies, and other festive snacks. Saturday and Sunday, every half-hour between 4-7 p.m., Van Cortlandt House Museum, Van Cortlandt Park, Broadway at West 246th Street, Bronx, 718-543-3344, $10 general, $8 seniors and students, $5 children ages 5-12.

ISLAND BY CANDLELIGHT The Staten Island Historical Society presents a candlelight tour of the 25-acre Historic Richmond Town. Visitors can experience 300 years of holiday traditions by observing costumed interpreters as they stroll. Tickets include a “Wassail Bowl” reception at the Third County Courthouse. Saturday, tours leave from 5-8:30 p.m., Historic Richmond Town, 441 Clarke Ave., Staten Island, 718-351-1611, $27.50 general, $22 members, reservations requested.

BIG BRASS A brass choir joins the Vox Vocal Ensemble and conductor George Steel for a holiday concert. Friday and Saturday, 6 p.m., Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th Street, 212-423-3500, free.

CHRISTMAS HISTORY The Canticum Novum Singers and the Canticum Novum Youth Choir perform Christmas choral music from the Renaissance to the present. James Adams is the guest organist. Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 3 p.m., St. Ignatius Episcopal Church, 552 West End Ave. at 87th Street, 212-279-4200, $20.

HOLIDAY TRIO Pianist Cyrus Chestnut and his trio perform a Christmas jazz concert. Mr. Chestnut, bassist Michael Hawkins, and drummer Neal Smith are joined by guest performers: trumpeter Brian Lynch, saxophonist Eric Alexander, and singer Vanessa Rubin. Saturday, 8 p.m., Columbia University, Miller Theatre, 2960 Broadway at 116th Street, 212-854-7799, $25.

FESTIVE FUR AND FEATHERS Central Presbyterian Church celebrates its annual “Holiday Blessing of the Animals,” as cats, dogs, birds, hamsters, and any other pets are invited to sit next to their owners on the church’s pews. The ceremony includes caroling and individual animal blessings by clergy from the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish faiths. Dogs from the NYPD will also be on hand for an outdoor blessing. Contributions to the evening’s collection plate go to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Sunday, 6 p.m., Central Presbyterian Church, 593 Park Ave. at 64th Street, 212-838-1501, free.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.