The Christmas Revels

Tranter Dewy's Christmas Party - 2010 Christmas Revels

The Christmas Revels is a cherished holiday tradition for over 70,000 people throughout the country. Every December, the Washington Revels community gathers to celebrate the season through the traditional songs, dances, and stories of cultures from around the world. This year’s production will be performed at the Cultural Arts Center at Montgomery College from December 20 – 22.

Our 42nd annual Revels, we celebrate an English country Christmas taken from author Thomas Hardy’s warm memories of the winter holidays in 19^th-century England. Quirky characters, a budding romance, rustic tunes, and rousing dances come together in this delightful story. Our multigenerational cast–ages 8 to 92–will be joined by traditional musicians from the Whiskey Before Breakfast Band and Washington Revels Brass in a fully staged holiday production featuring pub carols, joyful anthems, Revels favorites, and many opportunities for the audience to join in!

Photo credit: Sheppard Ferguson

IN-PERSON PERFORMANCES

Friday, December 20, 7pm
Saturday, December 21, 2pm & 7pm
Sunday, December 22, 1:30pm & 5pm

Cultural Arts Center at Montgomery College
7995 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Photo credit: Sheppard Ferguson

TICKETS

New pricing information will be available in September.

Washington Revels Brass

The Washington Revels Brass lends its joyful, clarion sound to every Christmas Revels production. Current performers include trumpeters Les Linn and Fred Marcellus, French horn Andrew Houde and trombonists Bryan Bourne and Jeff Gaylord. The ensemble views itself in a certain sense as a microcosm of Revels everywhere: they have their own rituals, traditions, and personality. They differ from every other part of the Revels only in that their ways are largely invisible to all but themselves. (Photo by Alain L. Gutiérrez Almeida)

Our flagship production, The Christmas Revels, is a festive, fully staged celebration of the Winter Solstice and the return of sun and light after the “shortest day,” radiating hope and joy in the renewal of life and the circle of the seasons. Seen by over 10,000 people every December, it draws on traditions and rituals from many lands and peoples, focusing each year on a different culture or related cultures.

Select a link below to learn more about that production.