Here they come a-wassailing … and dancing and caroling and so much more, as the Celtic folk band The Chivalrous Crickets hosts its second annual “Twelfth Night: an Olde World Celtic Christmas Revel” beginning at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 6, 2024 at the Charles A. Brown Ice House.

“If there ever was a town in which to extend the Yuletide season by two more weeks, and to recreate a historic Twelfth Night celebration centered on the English and Celtic carols and tunes at the heart of America’s traditional Christmas repertoire, it’s this town!” Bethlehem native Fiona Gillespie, co-founder and manager of The Chivalrous Crickets, said.

The band is partially based in Bethlehem.

Gillespie hopes the second annual Twelfth Night show will be a springboard to a new tradition in The Christmas City. “We hope to make this a staple of Bethlehem’s holiday offerings going forward, and to partner with local businesses and organizations to grow this into a mini-festival of sorts, falling each year on the weekend dates closest to Twelfth Night.”

The performance is a recreation of historic Twelfth Night traditions - such as mumming, wassailing and crowning a Lord of Misrule - from England, Celtic nations and Appalachia, when Jan. 6 - Epiphany/Twelfth Night - was the biggest culmination of the 12-day long Christmas holiday.

The evening includes music performance, caroling, group dancing, games for all ages, cider, sweets n’ cheeses, greenery, and storytelling all rolled into one, creating an event to cap off the Christmas season in high style and revelry. Participation and wild dress are encouraged!

The show is approximately 90 minutes long. At intermission, local trivia veteran Steven Bost will host a trivia game for a chance to win prizes. The festivities should wrap up around 9 p.m., at which point attendees can choose to remain for a 20-minute ceilidh dance session and singing in the New Year, or head home to bed!

“We host a yearly event at the Ice House which blends old Twelfth Night traditions into a holiday concert/game night/country dancing/theater/food and drink event similar to and inspired by the famous century-old Christmas Revels in Boston and other cities revels.org/event/the-christmas-revels-in-celebration-of-the-winter-solstice/,” Gillespie said.

“We had a really successful inaugural year in 2023,” Gillespie said of The Chivalrous Cricket’s performance at The Ice House Jan. 7, 2023, “and will reproduce it Jan. 6, 2024.”

The Chivalrous Crickets was formed in 2018 by Bethlehem native sisters Fiona and Genevieve Gillespie, daughters of Tom and Alison Gillespie from the Lehigh Valley Celtic band Blackwater. Band members of The Chivalrous Crickets include Genevieve’s husband Bradley King, Fiona’s partner Paul Morton, and longtime friend Ben Matus.

The five full-time members include Fiona (vocals, flutes, percussion), Morton (plucked instruments), Genevieve (fiddle, vocals), King (cello, bass, vocals) and Matus (pipes, winds, vocals).

Joining them for their Twelfth Night show will be New York City-based musical polymath Spiff Wiegand on a plethora of instruments and vocals.

“I grew up in Bethlehem, The Christmas City, in a family that loved exploiting the month of December for all the beauty and fun it was worth,” Gillespie said. “As I grew into a career playing and researching traditional and historic music, I discovered – through a curiosity about the words of some of the Christmas carols we all know and sing – what the Twelve Days of Christmas actually were.”

“Once upon a time in the old days, Dec. 25 was only the first day of a twelve-day long holiday culminating in a rowdy, carnival-like affair on Epiphany, Jan. 6, full of masked revelers going door to door wassailing and feasting, music and sanctioned mischief-making led by a Lord of Misrule, usually appointed from among the common folk,” Gillespie said.

“Bethlehem’s combined love of Christmas, history, Celtic music and hosting festivals makes it the perfect home for an annual Twelfth Night observance, with the Ice House, located in the heart of the historic district, as the uniquely perfect venue,” Gillespie said.

“The historic building’s large, open theater makes it ideally suited to an audience-involved event. Doug Roydson’s (curator, Ice House Tonight) work to facilitate the Ice House as a place for community artists to make their own is critical to our ability to put on this show.”

The evening kicks off at 6:30 p.m. for cider, treats and seating, with the show beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for youth (6-21 years).

For information, tickets and a YouTube video of the show trailer, visit the band’s websitechivalrouscrickets.com/twelfth-night.html.