The department of music at Hope College is sponsoring its annual Christmas Madrigal Feast on Friday-Saturday, Dec. 10-11, at 7 p.m. in the Maas Center auditorium.
As in the time of Shakespeare, guests gathered at the royal court for an evening of singing, dancing, feasting and general merry-making. The feast will feature fine food, a wassail toast, figgy pudding and a boar's head procession. Also included is a beverage, salad, mutton, roasted pork, royal red and gold potatoes and new peas.
The auditorium will be decorated in the manner of a castle's grand feasting hall, complete with tapestries and suits of armor to help lend atmosphere. The wait staff will be garbed in period attire.
Wassail begins at 6:30 p.m. and the feast, served family-style, begins at 7 p.m.Music will be provided by Hope College's Collegium Musicum vocal ensemble. Portraying the lead family of the royal court will be Holland Mayor Kurt Dykstra, his wife, Leah, and their children, Julianna and Emma.
Tickets for the full slate of activities are $25 for regular admission, and $15 for children under 12 and Hope students, and are available at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and may be called at (616) 395-7890, although the office will be closed on Thursday-Friday, Nov. 25-26, because of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 22 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets. The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Ave., on Columbia Avenue at 11th Street.