Wassail is Woodstock's way of ushering in the Christmas period. It is a mid-December weekend of events from children's plays to bell ringing. The culmination is a performance of the Messiah (in which the public is invited to participate). But, the event that really draws the crowds is the annual parade of horses and riders. Hundreds of people come every year. The atmosphere is genteel. One would not find a van selling hot dogs here, nor the Green littered with beer cans!
Woodstock has one of the largest concentrations of what one might call the "horsey set," so what could be more fitting. Riders dress in colorful period costumes evoking the look of a small Vermont town at the turn of the century.

After the parade, carolers gather around a Yule Log on the Green.

One of the real treats of Wassail is to hear the Revere Handbell Choir. They play in Woodstock's First Congregational Church in the late afternoon. The handbells have a delicate sound that reverberates and mixes with the sounds of other bells. They have unique qualities. They can be rung, with one, two, or three in each hand. They can be plucked and struck with mallets.

Woodstock was first settled in 1768 and is the only town in the United States with four Revere Church Bells. It is very, very New England.

The Revere Handbell Choir was started more than 25 years ago in Woodstock.

You can try your hand at "ringing them bells" after the performance.

There are other things to do such as visiting the Woodstock Historical Society.

Tim Palmer-Benson
Scenes of Vermont Dec 13th 1998.

All photos by Tim Palmer-Benson