Welcome to Folklore Village’s longest running festival! Founded by Jane Farwell in 1947 to counteract the growing commercialization of the season, the Festival of Christmas & Midwinter Traditions is a joyous celebration of all things folk and community. Now in its 79th year, the festival includes workshops in dance, song, music, and craft; kids programming; cultural meals; evening parties; and so much more. Join us for this special way to end the year!
On This Page:
-Schedule & Activities
-Registration
-Scholarships
-Featured Artists
-Accommodations
-Cancellations
Schedule & Activities
The festival starts at 3:00pm on December 28 and runs through brunch on January 1. December 28 begins with a tea at 4pm, followed by supper and an evening party. December 29, 30, and 31 feature full days of meals, workshops, teas, and evening parties. The festival concludes with a 10am brunch on January 1.
A detailed schedule will be posted here when available.
Registration
Information about registration will be shared here when available.
Scholarships
Folklore Village offers both work-exchange and need-based scholarships for the Festival of Christmas & Midwinter Traditions. Please note that scholarships are only for full-time participants at this time. To apply for a scholarship, please contact Kelli Emerson at programs@folklorevillage.org.
The Jane Farwell Memorial Festival of Christmas & Midwinter Traditions Scholarship provides free full-time admission for one child or teen. We prefer to give this scholarship to families who have not received this scholarship in the past three years; however, please still do apply if you have received the scholarship before. Lodging and materials fees are not included in the scholarship. 2 scholarships are available.
The Howard Capon Memorial Scholarship provides half-priced tuition for first time adult Midwinter Festival participants. Lodging and materials fees are not included in the scholarship. 2 scholarships are available.
These scholarships play a crucial role at the festival. Throughout the course of the festival, 11 meals are served, and the team of four dishwashers wash the tableware (plates, silverware, cups, bowls) after each meal. Dishwashers are not responsible for washing servingware or cookware. Dishwashers pay just $265 for the entire festival.
Estimated Time: 11 hours
With all the food served at the festival comes a lot of laundry! Team members will all be responsible for wash
ing, drying and folding kitchen towels, aprons and tablecloths in our laundry room. This includes bringing them
downstairs, starting a load after meals, folding kitchen towels and table clothes, and checking on laundry throughout the day. Laundry scholarship participants pay just $265 for the entire festival.
Estimated Time: 11 hours
Responsibilities include: Coordinating snack with party planners, prepping and serving snack items, decorating or creating other snack ambience, and washing/putting away any snack dishes at the end of the night. There are three snack nights, with snack usually being served around 9:30 – 10:00pm. Snack scholarship participants pay just $320 for the entire festival.
Estimated Time: 6-7 hours
Featured Artists
Lee Otterholt, born in the US of Norwegian-American parents, lived and worked most of his life in Norway as a professional dancer, dance teacher and choreographer. In Norway he founded and led the Center for International Folk Dance in Oslo, Norway. He was a professor of folkloristic dance at the Norwegian National College of Ballet and at the University College of Oslo. He was responsible for the establishment of 4 still-active folk dance clubs and 3 performing groups in Norway. He led these groups to festivals all over Europe. He also produced teaching materials (videos, books and CDs) on folk dance for use in the Norwegian school system. He has a professional education in choreography and was one of the choreographers of the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994.
The last 20 years Lee Otterholt has been active on the international scene, teaching international folk dance (“Balkan and Beyond”) at festivals, workshops and camps in Europe, the US and Asia and leading folk dance cruises and tours to many part of the world. He moved to the US, to Laguna Beach, California in 2003. There he founded and led the international folk dance performing group “SYRTAKI,” and he is the lead singer in the BalkanBeat band “Zimzala.” He teaches regularly at local folk dance clubs in the area and teaches his own recreational folk dance group every Wednesday and Sunday evening at Laguna Woods. He is the chairman of the Laguna Folk Dance Festival. In 2015 he received the National Dance Award, presented at the San Antonio Folk Dance Festival.
Marcella Lawson is very glad to have been born into a folk dancing family. (When asked what her family’s religious affiliation is, she jokes that it is international folk dance!) She has taught regionally at Southern California folk dance clubs, the Southern California Folk Dance Federations’s Fall Camp, and together with Lee Otterholt at New Mexico Folk Dance Camp, Florida Folk Dance Camp, and Danvik weekend workshop in Norway. Marcella sings and plays flute and guitar in the international folk dance bands Sans Frontieres and Zimzala, and sings and plays ukulele together with Lee in the acoustic duo Bella Katella.
Adah Hetko is a Yiddish singer, songwriter, and dance leader active in the international Yiddish culture scene. Since 2013, she has trained with leading Yiddish singers, including Judy Bressler (legendary founding member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band) and NEH fellow Ethel Raim, and has been mentored in Yiddish songwriting by Daniel Kahn and Josh Waletzky. While completing an MA in Jewish Studies at Indiana University, she developed deep knowledge of Yiddish language and culture, which she has learned to effectively share with audiences in the Boston area and beyond. Her work has been supported by the New Jewish Culture Fellowship, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, KlezKanada, Yiddish New York, the Yiddish Book Center and Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
Lysander Jaffe is a Boston-based violinist, violist, and vocalist, equally at home in chamber music, traditional music, and cross-genre collaborations. Lysander has studied with masters of traditional music in Bulgaria, Kosovo, Greece, Corsica, and Georgia, and is a two-time recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Apprenticeship in Traditional Arts. He holds a Masters in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory, where he studied styles ranging from free improvisation to klezmer to Hindustani classical music.
Lysander serves as Co-Artistic Director of two community choirs, SingPositive and Boston Harmony, and is demand as a workshop leader. As a teacher, he is passionate about broadening sonic and cultural horizons, teaching not only repertoire but listening skills and expressive vocabulary. He teaches for SongRoots and Village Harmony, with a focus on polyphonic singing styles from the Balkans and Mediterranean, and has led immersive international music study trips to study these styles.
Liam Kantor is a long-time festival participant and a traditional musician, teacher, and researcher with specialties in Irish fiddle music and community singing styles from around the world. Built on years of intensive study and research, Liam strives to create spaces for genuine engagement with folk music and its particularities, whether it be in private lessons, small group experiences, or large workshops.
Johanna Gorman-Baer will inspire your theatrical side with her engaging Theater Games workshop, storytelling for kids and adults alike, and the much-loved New Year’s Eve skit. A life-long festival participants, Johanna’s workshops are all about joy, humor, creativity, and camaraderie.
Accommodations
Bunkhouse (Very rustic): $20 per person per night
Stay on-site within walking distance (about 3 blocks) of Farwell Hall (main activities building). The bunkhouses are heated, with cots provided, and camp-style toilets and handpump nearby. Showers are located in Farwell Hall. Bring your own bedding, pillow, towel, flashlight, etc. Men and woman are housed in separate buildings. You can register for bunkhouse accommodations via the festival registration form.
Cancellations
Folklore Village will retain a $20 processing fee for any cancellations made more than 3 weeks before the start of a festival. After that date, $20, or 50% of the festival registration fee, whichever is greater, will be non-refundable. There will be no refunds if you cancel less than one week before the start of a festival. However, you may receive credit for a tax-deductible donation to Folklore Village.
