WEATHER ALERT:
The weather is predicted to be cold and rainy on Saturday, so we are rescheduling two outdoor performances to the Old Fire Station:
UPDATE!! Blue Train WILL perform from 2 to 3 PM at Pie in the Sky Bakery and Cafe, NOT at the raindate location!!!!
The Familiars of Cape Cod, previously scheduled to perform at the Woods Hole Historical Museum (Small Boat Museum) from 3 to 4 PM will now perform at the Old Fire Station from 3:30 to 4:30 PM.
The Vineyard Swordfish and the Nobska Lights, our two dance teams, will dance outdoors, weather permitting, from 2 to 3:30 PM or in Community Hall from 2:30 to 3 PM AND outdoors (weather permitting) from 3:30 to 4 PM or in the Old Fire Station from 3 to 3:30 PM.
All times are approximate!
Woods Hole Trad Stroll 2026
The Woods Hole Trad Stroll, a much loved free annual community event, will be held Saturday, May 2, 2026 from noon to 5:30 PM, followed by the Woods Hole Contra Dance from 7:30 to 10 PM with the Woods Hole Folk Orchestra. The dance is $10 for adults and $5 for teens.
Restaurants will be open throughout the afternoon and evening. We encourage Stoll attendees to take advantage of the break between Stroll and the Contra Dance to have dinner in one of the many excellent restaurants in Woods Hole.
The Woods Hole Trad Stroll is actually two concurrent series of concerts, one in Woods Hole Community Hall, and the other at various indoor and outdoor venues throughout the historic village of Woods Hole. Attendees are welcome to attend as many concerts as they wish. Be sure to stop by the Artisans Market in the lower level of Woods Hole Community Hall.
Artisans Market information is HERE.
The 2026 WHTS schedule is below. Rack cards are now available at performance venues and will be distributed at the event. See the rack card HERE.
Noon to 2 PM
Coffee Obsession
38 Water Street
Cat’s Melodeon
Cat’s Melodeon is an Irish multi-instrumental group led by Bill Black, shown here on banjo, who was the one who suggested, back in 2014, that ArtsFalmouth host a traditional music event. He has performed at every Trad Stroll since then. Cat’s Melodeon specializes in authentic Irish traditional music: the “pure drop” as it is known in Ireland, and includes guitars, pipes, banjo, flute, and fiddles.
Noon to 1 PM
Woods Hole Community Hall
68 Water Street
Falmouth Fiddlers
The Falmouth Fiddlers describe themselves as friendly people who have been playing fiddle tunes and other acoustic music around Falmouth since 1998. They play fiddles, banjos, bass, bodhran, guitars, mandolins, whistles, and cello. Many of those in the group met through its founder, the late fiddler and luthier Jim Boyce (1943-1015) at a Falmouth Fiddlers performance, his Falmouth Night School fiddle classes, by word of mouth or chance, or were inspired by his former FCTV show, “Fiddlin’ in Falmouth.”
1 to 2 PM
Martha’s Vineyard Bank
2 Water Street
Sonnay Fiddlers with Nikki Engstrom
The Sonnay Fiddlers is a group of Nikki’s young and older fiddle students. They perform a wide array of Celtic tunes.
1:30 to 2:30 PM
Woods Hole Community Hall
68 Water Street
Moqueca
In Brazil, Moqueca (moh-KEH-kah)is a delicious fish stew. The Moqueca trio performs tasty music with ingredients from all over Latin America on guitars and flute. Traditional folk songs, bossa novas, jazz standards, pop tunes, choros, sambas, milongas, waltzes – everything they love to play gets thrown into the pot.
Moqueca is Olivia Yingling on vocals and percussion, Tad Price on guitar, and Matt Brown on flute, guitar, bass, and percussion. They perform for a variety of occasions: Latin American-themed events, house concerts, fundraisers, art openings, weddings, concerts, dinners, and more. We also offer lecture-concerts, when we provide some of the background and history of the music we play.
2 to 3 PM
Blue Train
Pie in the Sky Bakery and Cafe
10 Water Street
Blue Train performs an eclectic mix of bluegrass and jazz tunes with vocal harmonies and instrumental panache. Blue Train performs bluegrass, Texas swing, gypsy jazz tunes and more with rich vocal harmonies and instrumental panache. The band consists of Jon Pachter (banjo, vocals), Wendy Pachter (bass, vocals), George O’Connor (mandolin, vocals), Stew Roberts (guitar, vocals) and Alison Smith (fiddle, vocals).
2 to 4 PM
Dance teams along Water Street
Nobska Lights
The Nobska Lights is a youth folk dance team based in Woods Hole and specializing in traditional English sword dances. They perform vibrant, fast-paced dances to lively jig music using flexible steel “rapper swords” that are woven together to create interesting patterns.
Vineyard Swordfish
Vineyard Swordfish is a longsword dance team in Falmouth with a longstanding connection to Martha’s Vineyard. The longsword is rigid, but not sharp, and is descended from a tanning implement. Longsword dancing is more stately and deliberate than its more energetic cousin, rapper sword dancing. Vineyard Swordfish kit (uniform), seen here, consists of white shirt, black knickers, and purple vest.
3 to 4 PM
The Familiars of Cape CodWoods Hole Historical Museum
579 Woods Hole Road
Rescheduled for 3:30 to 4:30 PM at the
Old Fire Station, 72 Water Street
The Familiars of Cape Cod perform a blend of folk, fiddle, country, and Americana music of the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and more. Manny and Linda Dias, Frank Carotenuto, Bob Nelson, and Rusty Strange will perform.
3 to 4 PM
Woods Hole Community Hall
68 Water Street
Barnstable County Bogtrotters
The Barnstable County Bogtrotters is Tom Goux, Dan Lanier, and John Alden, specializing in songs and shanties of the sea and other folk tunes. Tom founded and directed the Falmouth Mostly all-Male Men’s Chorus, sang in the Chatham Chorale’s Chamber Singers, and established the New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus. Dan is a singer and instrumentalist who took a fancy to sailor songs as a youngster. He has worked with Mystic Seaport Museum’s education department as a musical interpreter and later traveled to the Caribbean where he met several chantey-singing whalers, with whom he embarked on tours to the US, the Netherlands, and France. John is a multi-instrumentalist and singer and has been playing tunes and singing songs and shanties on Cape Cod with Dan and Tom for 50 years. He has been a member of Rose Clancy and Max Cohen, Cats Melodeon, Three Cats and a Dog, the Woods Hole Folk Orchestra, and others.
4 to 5 PM
Woods Hole Library
581 Woods Hole Road
Heather and Holly
Heather Swanson and Holly Silva are a dynamic musical duo, blending Heather’s expressive fiddle playing with Holly’s rhythmic bodhran. Drawing from traditional Irish and folk music, they’ll be performing set of lively tunes and heartfelt songs.
4:30 to 5:30 PM
Woods Hole Community Hall
68 Water Street
Just Picked
Just Picked features Stephanie Murphy on guitar/vocals, Doug Sheprow on guitar/harmony, Amy Larkin on fiddle/harmony, and Jonathan Larkin on accordion and octave mandolin. The group will perform bluegrass, folk, country, and Americana favorites.
7:30 to 10 PM
Woods Hole Contra Dance
Woods Hole Community Hall
68 Water Street
The Woods Hole Contra Dance, with caller Marcie Van Cleave, is accompanied by foot-tapping music from the Woods Hole Folk Orchestra. The dance is $10 for adults and $5 for teens.
Thank you to our Sponsors and Donors!
We gratefully thank our sponsors and donors who have made the Woods Hole Trad Stroll and our other events possible, as well as venues who generously provided their locations for the various concerts and dances, the ArtsFalmouth, Inc. Board Members who work tirelessly throughout the year to organize our events, and the volunteers who help out. Thanks, also, to our many attendees, who support our vendors and performers!
Our generous sponsors include the Falmouth Cultural Council, the Mass Cultural Council, the Woods Hole Foundation, the Falmouth Fund of the Cape Cod Foundation, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and the South Shore Playhouse Associates, as well as donations from individuals and businesses and support from Falmouth Community Television, the Falmouth Enterprise, and the Falmouth Art Center. We greatly appreciate this community support.
Parking:
Free event parking is provided by WHOI. Attendees may use the following lots:
Shiverick Lot at 11 School Street
School Street Lot at 49 School Street
Dyer’s Dock Lot at 44 Water Street by the drawbridge
See Event Parking signs at specific locations.
