Join us in celebrating 25 years of Revels in Washington!

There will be special anniversary events and performances throughout the year. Please visit this page regularly for the most up-to-date list. Be sure to sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter to get all the latest details about performances, Community Sings, auditions, volunteer opportunities, and special announcements.

May 23-24, 2008ADULT AUDITIONS for CHRISTMAS REVELS 2008

For our 26th Christmas Revels in Washington, D.C., we take a wintry journey into the deep forest and around the cozy fires of early Québec. The village of Trois Rivières celebrates the turning of the year with Québécois stories, music and dance performed by the Revels company of over 70 performers, ages 8-80. Internationally renowned dancer Pierre Chartrand, along with instrumentalists Éric Favreau (fiddle) and Stéphane Landry (accordion), join us from Montreal as our featured guest artists and tradition bearers. All performances take place in George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC. Please call 202-723-7528 to schedule an appointment

Visit the audition page to find out more about the production as well as specifics audition requirements.

Dates: Friday, May 23, 4:00-8:00 and Saturday, May 24, 9:30-12:00

June 15, 2008SUMMER SOLSTICE FESTIVAL DAY

Festival Day is coming! This half-day, outdoor participatory event is a chance to put together a Revels in ONE DAY -- songs, dances, a mummer's play, a kids' set -- all rehearsed and then performed in one afternoon, with YOUR help. What have you always wanted to do? Sing in the chorus? Dance a Morris? Be in the Mummers Play? Work on the backstage side of things or make beautiful crafts to adorn the day? Well, here's your chance! No auditions or experience required! We will gather at 1:00 (or come picnic earlier!), learn a song all together, break up into groups, learn our parts, share what we have learned, and then join in a joyous procession to the Scandinavian Mid-Sommar Johannus Picnic where we will perform our Mid-Summer Revels on the Pavillion Stage at Fort Hunt Park in Alexandria, Virginia.

Cost: Nothing!
Location: Fort Hunt Park, 8996 Fort Hunt Rd, Alexandria, VA (view map)
Date/Time: June 15, 2007, gather at 1:00pm, performance at 5:30pm

Additional Events in 2008

September (TBA)
25th Anniversary Reunion Gathering

Friday-Saturday, September 5-7
Child and Teen Auditions for The Christmas Revels

October 4 (evening)
3rd Annual Harvest Barn Dance & Dinner Party

Our 3rd Annual Harvest Barn Dance and Dinner will be a traditional Quebecois "kitchen dance." Pierre Chartrand and Éric Favreau will come from Montreal to call and teach the dances--no experience necessary! Come by yourself, bring a partner or the entire family!

December 6-7 & 12-14
The Christmas Revels: a French-Canadian Celebration of the Winter Solstice

For our 26th Christmas Revels in Washington, D.C., we take a wintry journey into the deep forest and around the cozy fires of early Québec. The village of Trois Rivières celebrates the turning of the year with Québécois stories, music and dance performed by the Revels company of over 70 performers, ages 8-80. Internationally renowned dancer Pierre Chartrand, along with instrumentalists Éric Favreau (fiddle) and Stéphane Landry (accordion), join us from Montreal as our featured guest artists and tradition bearers. All performances take place in George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC.

PAST EVENTS:

May 4, 2008 MAY REVELS at the AUDUBON NATURE FAIR

Welcome Spring with the Washington Revels!

We will once again bring in the May as part of the annual Audubon Nature Fair at Woodend in Chevy Chase, MD. Beginning with the traditional procession, our 1:30 show will celebrate the sea with traditional songs and sea chanteys, the crowning of the May Queen, a teen mummer's play, children's singing games, and Revels' traditional audience participation. At 4:00pm, the Padstow May 'Oss will lead us in for a slightly shorter show featuring the Green Man, the Foggy Bottom Morris Men, and a full audience-participation May Pole Dance!

Performance Times: 1:30pm and 4:00pm (Nature Fair 11am-5pm, rain or shine!)
Cost: Kids 12 and under enter FREE! Adults $5
Event Web Site: Audubon Nature Fair
Location: Woodend Sanctuary, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase,
                                                             Maryland 20815, 301-652-9188 (view directions)

April 26, 2008 MADRIGALS, MORRIS and MAYPOLE

Welcome in the Spring at the National Arboretum!

Help us chase the cold away at the Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) Garden Fair and Plant Sale held on the grounds of the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. The Washington Revels Singers will entertain with madrigals, both old and new, joined by the Foggy Bottom Morris Men for a day of merriment. We will dance the Maypole several times throughout the day, and invite fairgoers to come and join us in the dancing! While you are there, pick up some wonderful green stuff for your garden!

Performance Times: Various times from 10:00am to 1:00pm
Event Web Site: Friends of the National Arboretum
Location: National Arboretum, Washington, D.C. (view directions and map)

April 23, 2008 HAPPENINGS AT THE HARMAN

The Washington Revels Singers present madrigals and part songs celebrating Spring from the time of Shakespeare.

Join Revels at this free noontime event! Happenings at the Harman brings the community up close and personal with performances at the new Harman Center for the Arts. Box lunches are available for purchase for $10 if desired and may be reserved in advance through the Harman Box Office at 202.547.1122.

Time: 12:00 Noon
Event Web Site: Happenings at the Harman
Location: Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.
(view directions, map and public transportation information)

March 8, 20086th ANNUAL WASHINGTON REVELS BENEFIT GALA

Celebrate 25 years of Revels in Washington, D.C.!

Our Revels 'Round the Seasons Gala will celebrate 25 years of Revels in
Washington, DC. Enjoy scrumptious dining, a silent auction, and Revels-style entertainment, while you benefit our year-round educational and community outreach
programs. We would love to have you join us!

Location: United States Chamber of Commerce, 1615 H Street, NW, Washington, DC (view directions and maps)
Date/Time: Saturday, March 8, 2008 from 6:30-10:30pm
Tickets: $250 per person; tables available.

If you would like to receive an invitation with the details, please send an email to info@revelsdc.org or call the Revels office at 202-723-7528.

February 24, 2008ANNUAL COMMUNITY PUB SING

Join us for an evening of food, drink, and song!

Come raise your glass, lift your voice and enjoy [fill in your favorite pub food] at the 2008 Washington Revels Pub Sing! We will once again be at McGinty's Public House in Silver Spring, MD. Admission may be available at the door, but advance reservations and payment are recommended as seating is limited to 160 max. Revels will have the entire second floor bar area - Wheelchair Accessible! If you are interested in leading a song, please email pubsing@revelsdc.org

Date/Time: Sunday, February 24, 6:00 - 9:00pm
Location: McGinty's Public House, 911 Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring, MD, (301) 587-1270.
Tickets: Order tickets online through TIX.COM (there are no service charges!) *
               * you may also mail a check to Washington Revels
Prices:  In Advance (recommended): Adults: $16.50 Youth (18 and under): $10
              At the Door (space permitting): Adults: $20 Youth (18 and under): $12

All admission proceeds go directly to the Washington Revels to support our many free year-round activities.

Parking is available at the garage on the corner of Ellsworth and Fenton. McGinty's is on Ellsworth between Fenton Street and Georgia Avenue

February 17, 2008 REVELS AT "DISCOVER STRATHMORE"

An Elizabethan Celebration with a Visit from Good Queen Bess

The Washington Revels presents and Elizabethan celebration on the Concert Hall stage at "Discover Strathmore, an all-day, free event for the whole family. Revels is on the main stage at 3:30 with music, dance, a mummers play, and a special visit from Queen Elizabeth I. Come early and watch sculptors at work, let the kids try a dance class, join a sing-along and even take a bow on the Music Center stage!Admission is free! View a complete schedule for "Discover Strathmore"

Cost: Free
Location: Strathmore Center for the Arts (directions and parking)
Date/Time: Sunday, February 17 at 3:30pm (full event - 11:00am-4:00pm)

Saturday, January 12, 2008
An Elizabethan Festival at Saturday Morning at the National Theater
Helen Hayes Gallery at the National Theatre. 1321 Pennsylvania Ave, NW. (view map)
* free performances at 9:30 and 11:00am (tickets required, distributed 1/2 hour before the performance)

December 8-9 and 14-16, 2007 THE CHRISTMAS REVELS

The 25th annual Christmas Revels visits the colorful Renaissance world of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I.

Will Kemp, the brilliant and irreverent clown from Shakespeare’s company, has just Morris-danced for nine days from London to Norwich. His next feat? To devise some rustic revels to delight the Queen, soon to arrive on her Winter Solstice ‘Progress.’ Mischief and merriment ensue, with glorious Renaissance music, rousing Morris dance, a set of rustic actors, and of course, Good Queen Bess!

Featuring: Mark Jaster as Will Kemp, Katrina Van Duyn as Queen Elizabeth I, Oran Sandel as Lord Chamberlain, Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, Washington Revels Brass, Foggy Bottom Morris Men and the Revels company of adults, teens and children!

Location: Lisner Auditorium of The George Washington University
                 (view location and parking information)

View 2007 Christmas Revels Ticket Flyer [pdf]

September 29, 2007 REVELS AT CATHEDRAL DAY

Come and celebrate the National Cathedral’s 100th birthday with the Washington Revels Singers!

The full event runs from 10:00am - 5:00pm, including a reenactment of the laying of the foundation stone, demonstrations of Cathedral arts, a Birthday cake, and of course music provided by the Washington Revels Singers and other local groups. Learn more at: http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/programs/openhouse2007.shtml

Performances: Saturday, September 29 at 10:30 (in the Nave, at the crossing)
                           and 12:30 (roving madrigals on the grounds)
Location: Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts & Wisconsin Avenues NW (view driving directions)
Cost: Free

September 16, 2007REVELS AT THE TAKOMA PARK FOLK FESTIVAL

A merry band of Washington Revels mummers, singers, and musicians will perform at the Takoma Park Folk Festival on the Grassy Nook Stage on September 16. Come enjoy traditional English Renaissance ballads and rounds, and thrill to the mummer's tale of Saint George and the Dragon, complete with children selected from the audience to join in the fun!

Cost: Free
Location: Takoma Park Folk Festival, Grassy Nook Stage (http://www.tpff.org/)
Date/Time: Sunday, September 16 at 1:00pm

September 15, 2007 HARVEST BARN DANCE & DINNER PARTY

Come kick up your heels at Washington Revels' 2nd Annual Harvest Barn Dance & Dinner Party!

Join in the square, circle, and line dances, plus an English Country dance or two as a foretaste of this year's Elizabethan Christmas Revels. All dances will be taught - no experience necessary! The band includes local favorites Steve Hickman (fiddler), John Devine (singer/guitarist), and Charlie Pilzer (bass) - who all performed in our 2006 Christmas Revels - and caller Janine Smith (who taught dances for us at last year's Community Sing at Rosedale). Come by yourself, bring a partner, or bring the entire family! Kids are welcome to join in the dancing, but there will also be special craft activities for the younger set. The dinner will start at 6:30; dancing will start at 7:30. Rio Grande Cafe of Bethesda will provide fajitas - grilled on the spot! - and all the fixings. (Vegetarian option available) -- NOTE: Advance purchase is required so that we can get a head count for the dinner. Please call or email if you require a vegetarian option.

Tickets: Adults: $40; Youth (18 & Under): $15 (purchase tickets on-line (no fees), email barndance@revelsdc.org, or call the Revels office at 202-723-7528.
Location: Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church, 9601 Cedar Lane, Bethesda, MD (view map)
Date: September 15, 2007 -- 6:30 (Dinner); 7:30-10:30 (Dancing)

Sept. 7-9, 2007TEEN & CHILDREN'S AUDITIONS for CHRISTMAS REVELS

The Washington Revels community reflects our larger community, therefore we are seeking to create a diverse chorus consisting of good singers of all ancestries, sizes and ages.

Teen auditions (for those entering grades 9-12 in Fall 2007) will be held on Saturday, September 8 & Sunday, September 9.

Children's auditions (for those entering grades 3-5 in Fall 2007) will be held on Friday, September 7 & Saturday, September 8. Children's callbacks will be on Sunday, September 9.

Call the Revels office to schedule an audition appointment: 202-723-7528.

Visit the audition page to find out more about the production as well as specifics audition requirements.

September 3, 2007 KENSINGTON LABOR DAY PARADE

Come join Washington Revels (or cheer from the curbs) as we march in the Kensington Labor Day Parade!

Our hardy band of Revelers - adults, teens, and children – will dress in white bedecked with multi-colored sashes, wreaths and flower garlands (supplied by Revels). We will be accompanied by the Green Man, Hobby Horse, bright banners and ribbon sticks, and more! If you would like to march with us – NUMBER OF PLACES LIMITED, SO LET US KNOW SOON – please send an email to parade@revelsdc.org with your name and the name(s) of anyone coming with you (plus the ages of anyone 18 and under), and we will email you the details.

Date/Time: Monday, September 3rd, 9am-11:30am (parade starts at 10am)
Location: View Parade Route Map and Web site for the Kensington Labor Day Festival

August 25-26, 2007REVELS AT THE MARYLAND RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

A merry band of Washington Revels mummers, singers, and musicians will perform at the Maryland Renaissance Festival on August 25 and 26. Come enjoy traditional English Renaissance ballads and rounds, and thrill to the mummer's tale of Saint George and the Dragon, complete with children selected from the audience to join in the fun!

Cost: Admission charges to the Festival: $8 child/$15 senior/$18 adult
Location: Maryland Renaissance Festival (http://www.rennfest.com/)
Date/Time: Saturday and Sunday, August 25-26 at 4:30pm