Northwest to celebrate Yuletide Feaste with music, meal, tradition

The Madraliers and other Northwest ensembles perform in the Yuletide Feaste. Tickets are now on sale for the two-night event. (Northwest Missouri State University photo)

Northwest Missouri State University's School of Fine and Performing Arts will host its Yuletide Feaste next month, featuring an elegant royal meal and performances by the Madraliers chamber choir, the Brass Ensemble and the Recorder Consort.

The Feaste begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, and Saturday, Dec. 6, in the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased online at nwmissouri.edu/finearts/music/yuletide.htm.

Dr. Adam Zrust, the chair of the School of Fine and Performing Arts and director of the Feaste, said the event marks the beginning of the holiday season for many community members.

"This is a great tradition, a long-celebrated tradition, and it's one that I'm happy to carry the torch and continue into the 21st century," Zrust said.

At the Yuletide Feaste, guests journey back in time to the days of merrie olde England. While the menu, decorations and performances are reminiscent of the 16th century, members of Northwest's Tower Choir appear in Renaissance-style costumes as the Madraliers.

The menu includes spinach with bacon, blue cheese, scallions, raspberries and balsamic vinaigrette, assorted dinner rolls and butter, roasted green beans and carrots, oven-roasted wedged potatoes, cheese tortellini Alfredo, baked herb chicken and chocolate mousse parfait.

Since Northwest's inaugural Yuletide Feaste in 1975, many elements of the event have stayed rooted in tradition. The costumes are carefully maintained and refitted each year. Traditional carols also remain a staple of the program. The event has occurred annually at Northwest, except for 2020 and 2021 when it was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the Feaste also has evolved to remain engaging and accessible. Ticket orders and payments that once were handled by mail have since shifted to an online platform where guests can choose their seats and purchase tickets. Other modernizations include the backdrops, staging arrangements and musical repertoire. This year, the script was refreshed, and an updated program blends contemporary arrangements with traditional roots.

In addition to performing, students assist with event operations and serve on subcommittees responsible for setup, teardown, costuming and meal coordination.

Bridget Hopkins, a junior speech and theater education major from Creston, Iowa, has assisted with the Yuletide Feaste for the last three years. This year, she oversees costuming in addition to organizing decorations, coordinating the recorder concert and performing as the jester.

"To a lot of people in the community, this is a way they get to interact with the college campus," Hopkins said. "It's a really fun way that the fine arts gets to connect with the community."