“Something that happens at my town every year right before Christmas – usually like mid December – and there is this ferry company in Washington State, and every year they hire a group carolers, and the carolers come on this boat and then they turn on the boat’s PA and loud speaker and they drive around to nearby beaches or coasts and people from towns nearby will walk toward the public beaches and sit there and do a concert.”

“[My] town, called Yarrow Point has a bond fire with it every year, so usually it’s a combination of people who live in the town or people who work nearby, but everyone helps with the bonfire – everybody comes out and listens, it’s really fun, I’ve grown to appreciate it more, cause when I was little [I hated the cold].”

My informant joyfully recalled this annual tradition to me, and while they originally seemed to hint toward their connection with this tradition as being innocent and community building, they also had this to say-

“The cool thing is, the Christmas boat, it’s the same boat every year, and other people who have their boats out will decorate them with Christmas lights and drive all around, and its Washington State so there’s a large population of people with boats. Usually people will just follow the Christmas boat around so when you come to the concert on the shore they will all pul up with the main boat and you can judge how much effort people put into their boats. It’s really pretty.”

Not only does this event include a large community coming together to appreciate music and decorum, but it also serves as a grounds of judgement and competition. Though it may seem negative, I recognize how this community may inadvertently have added this layer of competition as a way to bring their community even closer together. They want to impress each other and build upon the excitement of the holiday.

“It’s all very light-hearted.”