12th annual Revels RiverSing, A Free Celebration of the Autumnal Equinox

Revels RiverSing is a fun participatory evening of pageantry and song celebrating the season and the splendor of the Charles River and its parklands. Featuring over 150 performers, the real stars of Revels RiverSing are YOU! As always, the audience is encouraged to sing along. (Lyrics will be printed in the program and made available online before the event.)

Helping us celebrate this year will be our special guests, the traditional New Orleans band, Eli & the Hot Six led by local legend Eli Newberger, the 100-member RiverSing Chorus of adults and children, guest soloists David Coffin, Jamie Jaffe, Louise Grasmere, and Stan Strickland, The Revels Alumni Youth Chorus, Ken Field of the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, the high-energy percussion ensemble Bloco AfroBrazil, and an exuberant “honk” band. Adding whimsy and magic to the mix will be acrobats and street performers, Sara Peattie’s larger-than-life puppets, and the giant illuminated butterflies of Gabriel Q. George Emlen is RiverSing’s music director and host. Patrick Swanson is the director.

At the Charles, we’ll sing familiar folksongs (lyrics will be available online at www.revels.org and at the event), and listen to seasonal poetry readings by members of Actors’ Shakespeare Company. At evening’s end, enjoy the night’s most magical moment, an improvisational call-and-response between saxophonists Ken Field (on stage) and Stan Strickland (floating along the Charles in an illuminated Sun/Moon boat!).

Event Timeline:
5:00 pm: Gather in Winthrop Park for family festivities including face-painting, hula-hooping, a “honk” band and more!
5:45 pm: Parade to the River (all join)
6:00 pm: The singing along the Charles begins!
(Come early and enjoy a picnic along the River amidst the splendor of the Parklands.)

A wondrous spectacle filled with simple pleasures, Revels RiverSing is a terrific community event the whole family can enjoy.

Revels RiverSing is supported, in part, by the Harvard Square Business Association, the Cambridge Arts Council, the Charles River Conservancy (co-founder), and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Eli and the Hot Six’s appearance is underwritten by the Charles River Conservancy which will be celebrating its 15th anniversary at this year’s event.

What: 12th annual Revels RiverSing, a FREE community celebration marking the end of summer and the beginning of fall
When: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015, 6-7:30 pm along the banks of the Charles (5:00 pm in Harvard Square)
Where: Harvard Square’s Winthrop Park and by the Weeks Footbridge along the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge, MA Map and Directions
For more information on Revels RiverSing please visit www.revels.org or call 617-972-8300 ext. 22