Venue

YDW is now located at Kinhaven Music School in Weston, VT. It is a venue well-suited to our needs, so we have decided to stay there. Kinhaven rests in a lovely spot in rural Vermont. It has a beautiful dance hall with an excellent floor, a well-equipped commercial kitchen adjacent to the dance hall, plenty of cabin space and room for tenting, a party barn and numerous spaces to hang out and play music (several equipped with pianos)… oh, yes, and tasty, tasty apples which can be plucked right off the trees.

The rustic setting afforded by Kinhaven works well for making YDW a communal event. It’s far from the bustle of any city, it’s dark and quiet at night except for the awesome music and fun we make, and the stars are amazing. There’s no cell phone service and the cabins are simple (but four-walled). Despite requiring some adjustment, we think the rustic nature of the facility makes the weekend better. Away from distractions we can all relax, connect with other campers, and focus on dancing, singing, and playing music together. We think you’ll love it here. Check out the FAQ for answers to more questions about the facilities.

Why we moved to Kinhaven from F&W

When YDW started the organizers searched and searched for appropriate venues – somewhere with a great dance floor, obviously, as well as the capacity to feed and house around 150 people. It had to be affordable to keep the overall costs of the weekend manageable for young people, and it had to be beautiful so folks would enjoy being there. In 2008, we were lucky to find Farm and Wilderness in Plymouth, VT!

F&W afforded us with a great location and a place full of history, with a long-standing connection to and support of traditional New England contra dancing. It’s fair to say that the modern contra scene wouldn’t be what it is today without Farm and Wilderness. Many contra callers working today got their start at F&W; Dudley Laufman, Lisa Sieverts, Tony Parkes and Steve Zakon-Anderson all called some of their first dances there. You can read more at the Farm and Wilderness web site.

In 2011, YDW moved to Kinhaven Music School in nearby Weston, VT. This was originally a temporary move after flood damage from Hurricane Irene prevented us from accessing F&W a mere two weeks before the weekend.  (yikes!)  After a superb, successful weekend at Kinhaven, we realized — with thanks to plenty of feedback on our evaluations — that Kinhaven is better suited to our needs, particularly in that it has lots of space to hold activities and make music, including several with pianos. Some campers might also appreciate the four-walled cabins and indoor shower and bathroom facilities, particularly on cold September nights.

Thanks to F&W for giving us a great space for three years and thanks to Kinhaven for being our new home.