Free Holiday Sing-Along Community Event

Free Holiday Sing-Along Community Event

Central Coast Chorale and Oregon Coast Council for the Arts present Holly Jolly – A Festive Family Affair on Friday, December 2nd

Newport, Oregon: Community members of all ages are invited to the Newport Performing Arts Center on Friday, December 2nd, beginning at 5:30 PM, to enjoy free art-making activities, holiday treats, music, and carols sung with friends and neighbors. Admission is free.

Youth artmaking begins at 5:30 PM, with the community sing-along kicking off at 6:30 PM. Activities include making greeting cards, Sugar Plum Fairies, and Mice Kings with candy cane tails. Music selections will be familiar holiday favorites made popular through film, television, radio, and social media, with simple melodies that even young children can learn and sing along with—primarily songs that have been part of the holiday season since the 1940s.

“We wanted to create a festive holiday event that would allow people to sing together again,” said Rhodd Caldwell, Central Coast Chorale’s new artistic director, “Folks that make up the Boomer generation have a different experience of singing in public than younger people. In the forties, fifties, sixties, and even the seventies, individuals and families frequently sang together in different ways: in schools, in faith communities, around campfires at summer camps, at sporting events, in coffee houses—even at marches or demonstrations. That doesn't happen nearly as much today.”

The hope is that this unique, multi-sensory community experience will help families get their Holiday season off to a fun start. Lyrics will be displayed on a large movie screen in the Alice Silverman Theatre, with a few songs in both English and Spanish, and there may even be some surprises along the way. Craft activities, treats, cider, and music are all included. As a way to give back to the community, guests may bring a pair of pajamas (sizes 5T-2x preferred) to benefit Lincoln County’s foster youth (through the Lincoln County Foster Parent Association) or bring a canned food donation for Food Share of Lincoln County.

Dr. Ysaye Barnwell states: “There is an awesome power in the human voice, and when uncommon voices are blended for the common good they become a ‘vocal community at its best.”

For more information, call (541) 265-2787 or visit the Newport Performing Arts Center Box Office (777 W. Olive Street, Newport, Oregon 97365) Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, or visit www.coastarts.org/hollyjolly