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'Wassail Austin' Offers a Truly Old-Fashioned Holiday Celebration

Every year around this time, musicians, dancers, poets, actors, and more join together to stage Wassail Austin, a truly old-fashioned, family friendly celebration of Christmas and the Winter Solstice. Darrel Mayers is the founder of Wassail Austin, and he created the show to be the sort of thing he wished he'd had when growing up in England -- an all-ages holiday show that combined whimsy with spirituality.

The yearly wassail features medieval music, puppetry, poetry, and more types of entertainment, including a mummer's play, an artform that dates back to pre-Christian times, when the Winter Solstice was celebrated.

All performers and crew members of Wassail Austin donate their time, and all proceeds from the show will be donated to Kids for Kids (UK), a British charity that benefits needy children in Darfur, Sudan.

Wassail Austin Sunday, December 15 at 5:30 pm At Scottish Rite Theater, 207 W. 18th Street

Mike is the production director at KUT, where he’s been working since his days as an English major at the University of Texas. He produces Arts Eclectic, Get Involved, and the Sonic ID project, and also produces videos and cartoons for KUT.org. When pressed to do so, he’ll write short paragraphs about himself in the third person, but usually prefers not to.
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