Revels North

The christmas Revels has been an annual family-friendly celebration of the winter solstice since 1975, presenting songs, dances, stories, and celebrations from different cultural traditions around the world. Performances have featured traditions from england, ireland, scotland, wales, appalachia, france, italy, scandinavia, russia, eastern europe, and the balkans. Local children, teens, and adults perform on-stage alongside nationally known guest artists representing that years traditions. In 2022 we rebranded the show as midwinter Revels to foster the spirit of inclusivity. In 2023 we took a scaled-down version of our annual show on-the-road to bring midwinter Revels traditions to a broader audience. We performed at three different venues in two states: the latchis theatre in brattleboro, vt, the claremont opera house in claremont, nh and the mascoma high school auditorium in canaan, nh, engaging the talents of local artists at each venue.

Revels traditions is a suite of year-round programs emphasizing community participation. Revels community dances are a free intergenerational evening of joyful dancing, drawing community members of all ages with easy instruction for newcomers. Revels pub sings are free, family-friendly events held at a local restaurant, an opportunity to share food, drink, song, and camaraderie. Revels band of fools is an all-ages musical ensemble modeled on the community street band, with no music reading experience necessary, using whatever instruments players choose to bring with opportunities to play for our community dances. Revels kids is a program aimed at teaching Revels traditions to the next generation of revelers. There is no audition required and tuition assistance is available. The goal is to engage children in the process of creating a show by learning about all aspects of the production process, while learning about folk traditions in a safe, non-judgmental, fun atmosphere. While most of these programs were still dormant in 2023, we were able revive revel kids and include a group of children in the midwinter Revels on tour productions. No tuition was charged for the program in 2023.

The annual summer Revels festival celebrates the arrival of summer with traditional songs, morris dances, picnics, games, healthy food, a bonfire, and a family-friendly performance. The summer Revels chorus is entirely non-auditioned, with a chance for families to perform together. In 2023 we successfully held a summer Revels event at the town hall in fairlee, vt, featuring traditional games and other Revels staples. We finished the day with a contra dance accompanied by a drop in version of the Revels band of fools, and finished with a community potluck dinner.