Just because there's a gaudy polyester scarf of treacly sentimentality wrapped around a hard cold core of consumerism at this time of year is no reason to hide under the covers wishing you could sleep through the whole thing. The ancient impulse to gather and celebrate this season is far older and deeper than the corporatocracy, and to partake of it is a win.
So venture forth and join in some of the excellent celebrations near you. Occupy the holidays and make some memories that will transcend and transform your aggravation when you see that commercial implying that All Good People Give Diamonds and Cars for the umpteenth time.
First, you can do the holiday shopping thing without ever getting near a mall. We're blessed with awesome indie businesses and local makers who create things of great utility and beauty, and they thoughtfully organize themselves into central locations for your convenience this time of year.
At the Winter Fair and Outdoor Marketplace at the Mountain Laurel Waldorf School in New Paltz on December 8, your kids can immerse themselves in holiday crafts while you sneak off to find them something they'll cherish amongst the music and dance and feasting, which features that rare treat of outdoor barbecue in December. The Cornell Street Studios in Kingston are doing a Vintage and Handmade Holiday Craft Fair on December 7 that redefines recycling, complete with live music and hot cocoa. Also in Kingston on December 7, the Backstage Studio people are hosting the Hudson Valley Hullaballoo, curated by Danielle Bliss of Wishbone Letterpress. Their tagline is "Where Arty Meets Party," and these are people who do both extraordinarily well.
Speaking of doing things well, if Christmas is your holiday, don't miss out on a chance to say merry-merry to the monastics. Our Lady of the Resurrection, out near Millbrook, will fling its doors wide on the first two weekends of December for their Christmas Craft Fair, and what they craft are artisanal vinegars, fine relishes, salsas, and jams, along with crèches and cards.
Another shopportunity that sounds like it'll be a winner takes place in Hudson at 704 Columbia Street on December 7, 8, 14, and 15. The opening of the Hudson River Exchange Winter Market has a theme of "Made + Collected," juried for quality and diversity and flavored with food trucks and music.
It also coincides with Hudson's 17th Winterwalk on December 7, which brings us to our next category of genuine down-home holiday magic. Besides the pop-up bazaars, the various villages and their merchants will be celebrating in styles as unique as the communities they inhabit. Winterwalk will feature carillon bells and cool jazz, belly dancers and carriage rides, and finish up with fireworks. Saugerties will celebrate Holiday in the Village with living mannequins and toy giveaways on December 8.
Frozendale Daze celebrates Rosendale's festive warm heart on December 7 with, among other things, free showings of Muppets Christmas at the theater, live music at the Rosendale Café, an opening of "Light Me Up" at Roos Arts, and a well-loved mac-and-cheese contest Rhinebeck will be a-sparkle with Sinterklaas that day, the Dutch-infused folkloric fest that astonishes all ages with dragons and grumpuses and shining stars held high.
The bigger burgs are holidaymaking too. Uptown Kingston's Snowflake Festival on December 6 will have tours of the Stockade's museums, free horse- and-buggy rides and organ music at the Old Dutch Church. The Bardavon in Poughkeepsie has teamed up with the Walkway and some other good folk to present the 20th annual Celebration of Lights Parade on December 6, with fireworks to follow; the next day, December 7, the River District will be given over to the younger set for Family Day—ice carvers, bounce houses, storytellers and musicians, and prizes abounding.
There are common themes. Santa (boy, that dude gets around) will be in attendance at just about all of the above. You can expect to be plied with hot chocolate and hot cider, find free activities for the kids to get in on, and be overwhelmed by the sight of so many beautiful, frolicsome families of every description. Folks will be hay riding and buggy riding, and in Kingston, Hudson, Poughkeepsie, and Rhinebeck, there will be parades. Music of all sorts will fill the wintry air. Yes, each town has its own batch of indie shops and venues as individual as a fingerprint, but joining in any of these celebrations is nearly guaranteed to make your heart grow three sizes, whether you're a hardcore holiday lover or start out feeling downright Grinchy.
Now that your shopping's all arranged under the most felicitous of circumstances, turn your thoughts to cultural pursuits, and there are plenty on tap that invoke centuries-old seasonal culture that's endured because it's just so stirring. The Paramount Theatre in Middletown will host the glorious collaboration of the American Youth Ballet and their guests from the New Jersey Ballet in "The Nutcracker" on December 9.
St. Mary's Church in Cold Spring will raise the rafters on December 22 with two glorious performances of Handel's "Messiah," featuring Carnegie Hall veteran soloists, stellar period-instrument players from top New York City orchestras, and conductor Gordon Stewart, whose résumé takes in the University of Vienna, Yale, and a stint writing speeches for Jimmy Carter. (Betcha weren't expecting that part.)
At Just Off Broadway, located in the beautifully renovated West Shore Railway Station on the Newburgh waterfront, you have your choice of eight lush performances of "Amahl and the Night Visitors" on the first two weekends of the month. And UPAC is polishing up the 18th annual incarnation of its critically acclaimed take on dear old Dickens. "A Christmas Carol" will be performed December 6 to 8.
There are also some wonderful opportunities for time travel. During the Snowflake Fest in Kingston, don't miss a stop at the Senate House. The grounds will be done up in a Festival of Lights, and the lovely Victorian Loughran House will be decorated in the style of yesteryear, complete with chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
Down in Newburgh, on Sunday, December 8, you can go back a century farther and Warm Up with the Washingtons in a free, interpretive event set in 1782. Period decor, hot cider and cookies, and the dulcet tones of the Salmagundi Consort will help you understand how people survived Northeastern winters before central heating at Washington's Headquarters. They'll also be able to hook you up with the Candlelight Tour of stunning vintage homes being coordinated by the Newburgh Historical Society.
Boscobel, the elegant Federal manse in Garrison, is blending history with more than a touch of whimsy. Sparkle: Nights of 10,000 Lights brings special events on the first three weekends of the month. Enjoy the bedazzled grounds and meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus, plus characters like the stilt-walking Snow Queen, and Thaddeus McGregor and his dancing Limberjack. The Taghanik Choir and the Katonah Bell Ringers will fill the chill air with felicitous sounds. Each weekend will be a little different, so check their website, but during any of the festivities you can warm up on an interpretive candlelit tour.
Finally, one and all are invited to join Amy McTear, the One True Voice Choir, and the Rhythmic Being Drum Circle for a gathering of the cosmic forcsses at the sixth annual New Earth, New Self: An Oddyssey Into the Heart Via the Power of Collective Voice. happening on New Year's Day at the Epworth Center in High Falls. Drawing together elements of all the world's mystery and wisdom traditions, this sacred sound event will cleanse and clarify heart and mind just when we all need it most.
So tug on your mukluks, wrap your favorite cozy scarf snugly, and come on out to join the neighbors this month. There's much merry to be made.
