Are you available for our event?

We do not post an online calendar of our availability because we have more than one group in more than one location, and send singers out based on the event’s proximity to their area. Thus, we have no need to tell people “No” unless we have triple or even quadruple booked a given date.

Due to the demand for The Village Carolers between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we highly recommend you book as far in advance as possible. We start booking holiday dates as early as March each year! We receive a high volume of booking requests especially for the first two weekends in December, so it is advised you book as early as possible. If you contact us in mid-November for a December weekend date, it’s very likely we will already be booked.

How early do we need to book?

Weekends, especially Saturdays, are the most popular dates in late November and throughout December. Despite having multiple singers on the roster, these dates often get completely booked up in late summer or early fall. Because many of our singers are also professional church musicians, there is limited availability on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Thursday evenings also can be difficult with choral rehearsals as well. In short, book as early as you can. We are humbly bragging to say that we are very much in demand, and we hate having to tell people that we cannot sing for them!

Can you be amplified?

We typically sing without amplification, especially if we’re strolling during our performance time. However, we do have access to an amplification system for use upon request. We have a limited number of systems available, so use of amplification must be reserved in advance, is subject to a small surcharge, and is subject to availability.

We respectfully suggest you try not to use amplification if your intention is to have the carolers be environmental, or background, in nature. We have found that in certain types of events where we are not actually featured, such as cocktail or corporate parties, people will tend to just speak over us. This is also true with festivals and events where multiple groups might be performing. If we sing louder in order to be heard, everyone just talks louder, and it turns into a battle that no one enjoys. So, please learn from the past experiences of others: if we’re actually featured as performers, amplification might be appropriate. If not, we do not recommend amplification.

Can we hire you for less than an hour?

While we fully appreciate that you only may need us for 15 or 30 minutes, we have to still pay our performers the rate for a full hour. The reasons for this policy are:

  • All four singers must travel to your location from wherever they are. Sometimes this can be well over an hour away.
  • They must get into costume.
  • They then perform for your event, and finally;
  • They travel sometimes over an hour to return to where they came from.

For each singer, this is not a 15 or 30 minute commitment of time. It is at least two hours, if not more. Additionally, other clients are often requesting carolers and whenever we book a performance, those singers are lost to our use for that period. This usually means they miss out on another performance opportunity that same day. For these reasons, we have a one hour minimum fee. We hope you understand, and we look forward to singing for you!

Why is the first hour rate more than additional hours?

There are many costs associated with presenting our carolers which must be covered. Besides paying our singers, the booking fee included with the first hour fee pays for:

  • General Liability Insurance (a requirement at many venues)
  • Special permissions from publishers to make custom arrangements of modern carols
  • Music printing for all of our singers
  • Purchasing and maintaining those beautiful Dickensian costumes, ugly sweaters, etc.
  • Managing singer schedules and availability
  • Web site design and hosting
  • Managing client communication and event logistics
  • Months of preparation time and the administration behind putting it all together

Do you have a non-religious set of Victorian style carols available?

Yes, both in the Victorian set and in our exclusive arrangements of popular modern songs. As for our “Victorian” presentation repertoire, many corporate parties wish to keep the overtly Christian influence to a minimum in order to be sensitive to other cultures present. We can do smaller sets of our repertoire list which either are not specifically sacred or which can be easily altered to remove specific sacred words, and still maintain the Victorian-era feel and presentation.

Here is a list of the Victorian carols which are less sacred in nature, which we believe are appropriate for a corporate party.

  • Bring Us In Good Ale
  • Deck the Hall
  • Gloucestershire Wassail (Wassail All Over the Town)
  • Good King Wenceslas (modified)
  • Here We Come A-Wassailing
  • Jingle Bells
  • Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
  • O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)
  • Up On the Housetop
  • We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Do you perform modern Christmas songs?

Of course! While we dress in the Victorian style, we also offer modern songs, many of which are arrangements created exclusively for The Village Carolers which you won’t hear anywhere else.

The modern set now available includes the following songs, all arranged by co-founder Michael Chadwick unless otherwise noted with an asterisk (*).

  • Carol of the Bells*
  • The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
  • Frosty the Snowman
  • Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
  • Here Comes Santa Claus
  • A Holly Jolly Christmas
  • (There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays
  • It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
  • Jingle Bell Rock
  • Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
  • Marshmallow World
  • (Everybody’s Waiting for) The Man With the Bag
  • Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
  • Santa Claus is Coming to Town
  • Silver Bells
  • Sleigh Ride
  • White Christmas
  • Winter Wonderland

Do you perform traditional Christmas carols?

Here are the “Victorian” era holiday classic carols and songs included in our repertoire:

  • Angels We Have Heard On High
  • Away in a Manger
  • Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella (Un flambeau, Jeanette, Isabella)*
  • Bring Us In Good Ale
  • Coventry Carol
  • Deck the Hall
  • Ding Dong Merrily on High
  • The First Noel
  • Gloucestershire Wassail (Wassail All Over the Town)
  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
  • Good Christian Men Rejoice! (In dulce jubilo)*
  • Good King Wenceslas
  • Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
  • Here We Come A-Wassailing
  • The Holly and the Ivy
  • It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
  • Jingle Bells
  • Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
  • Joy to the World
  • O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)*
  • O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)*
  • O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Veni, Veni, Emanuel)*
  • O Little Town of Bethlehem
  • Once in Royal David’s City
  • Patapan
  • Silent Night (Stille Nacht)*
  • Sing We Now Of Christmas (Noël Nouvelet)*
  • Still, Still, Still
  • Sussex Carol
  • Up On the Housetop
  • We Three Kings of Orient Are
  • We Wish You a Merry Christmas