Welcome Yule: A Midwinter Celebration

For 35 years, a stalwart band of celebrants has led the community in the rousing festivities known as Welcome Yule: A Midwinter Celebration. Join us as we take to the stage once again to regale all with mirth, song, dance and good cheer.

Rose Sheehan, Welcome Yule founding director, returns to the Valley in collaboration with current artistic director Liz Smith and music director Kathryn Aubry-McAvoy to mount this year’s program. 

Highlights include powerful choral singing, lively dances, the Abbots Bromley Processional, a mummers’ play, and the use of giant puppets throughout the show.

Sheehan has written the storyline for the production which centers on the wisdom of trees, the power of animals and the deep magic of music. 

An original song written by Colin de la Barre served as a nexus for the story development. Sheehan’s son, de la Barre performed in Welcome Yule during his childhood throughout the 1990’s. He too will return to the Welcome Yule stage as a featured performer, debuting his work.

At the darkest time of the year, despair looms large. The winter solstice is our turning point: it is the season of rebirth. Welcome Yule’s mission is to offer hope and cheer within the warmth of community so that together we may realize the promise of renewal.