Grab your lute and don your lace collar – the Oxford Waits invite you to a 17th-century Christmas celebration. Hear street ballads, dance tunes and traditional carols, as well as readings and nuggets of history, performed by the Waits dressed in period clothing using reconstructed period instruments.

The original Oxford Waits performed during the heyday of the 17th century. A country tune called 'The Oxford Waits' from the 18th century has survived and can still be performed as a dance. A few members of the Waits also form the medieval band Swyndelstock, its name taken from a medieval tavern in Oxford (which is now Santander on the corner of Carfax!).

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