It’s time to head over the river and through the woods to Wolf Trap National Park for the free annual Holiday Sing-A-Long on Saturday, Dec. 3.
“This started way back in 1968,” Wolf Trap President & C.E.O. Arvind Manocha told WTOP. “Our founder, Catherine Filene Shouse, lived out at Wolf Trap Farm and invited local choirs and the community over to the farm to sing holiday songs and carols together. Then, the next year, she invited ‘The President’s Own’ Marine Band — and that tradition stuck.”
Since the Filene Center opened in 1971, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band has participated in the Holiday Sing-a-Long every year. This year, they’ll be joined by more than 15 local choirs with 600 singers, including the choirs from Fairfax Choral Society Symphonic Chorus, Colvin Run Elementary School and Saint Paul VI’s Catholic High School.
Manocha said you can count on traditions such as “Joy to the World,” “Deck the Halls,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “The Dreidel Song. As usual, everyone will leave the Filene Center with LED candles singing “Silent Night.” “We encourage folks to bring their LED candles and Christmas bells because there will be a jing-a-long during ‘Jingle Bells,'” he added.
You also just might see appearances from Frosty, Rudolph and Santa Claus amid the beautiful backdrop of the Filene Center, which folks were only able to see virtually during the pandemic. This year is the first holiday sing-a-long back in person since 2019.
“It’s gonna be great,” Manocha said. “We’ve done a lot of renovations and improvements at the park over the past couple of years, so I’m really excited for people to come back to their favorite holiday tradition at the new and improved Filene Center to see all of the beauty, majesty, wreaths, costumes, characters and get back to holiday singing in person.”
Visitors are also invited to donate new, unwrapped toys to Toys for Tots.
Listen to our full conversation here.
