NEWPORT — Donna Mandart’s seventh annual Winter Holiday Village display is now on view in downtown Newport with a new location this year.
The ceramic miniature village is on display in the former Needlemans storefront windows at 100 Main Street in Newport and can be viewed anytime through mid-January 2026.
The display features a twinkling town square with lights, tiny skaters on a pond, and families picking out Christmas trees in the town center.
Mandart, a Newport resident who moved from Long Island, New York, has been crafting intricate Christmas villages for over 35 years. What began as a small collection has grown into a sprawling display of nearly 200 pieces, including houses, figurines, and festive scenes, assembled with painstaking attention to detail.
“I love that it brings so much joy, happiness and special memories to so many,” Mandart said. “It truly is a labor of love.”
The tradition began decades ago when Donna’s husband gifted her a Christmas village piece shortly after their wedding. Each year, she added to the collection, eventually transforming her enclosed porch in Long Island into a 32-foot holiday spectacle.
After moving to Newport, she faced space constraints but found a new venue for her creations at the Welcome Center.
