Hey Fever!
Oct 31st to Nov 2nd, 2025!
Hey Fever! is a full weekend of wonderful contra dancing from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Lots of dancing, some fun workshops, shared meals and we always celebrate Halloween with our costume dance too! We love that so many out of town dancers join us for this total blast of a weekend.
Hey Fever! 2025 registration will open May 1, 2025.
The 2025 bands are Good Company and River Road.
The 2025 callers are Mary Wesley and Will Mentor.
Good Company is a trio that primarily plays for contra dances around New England and are delighted to come to Ottawa! They draw their material from Irish, Scottish, New England, and Quebecois folk traditions, as well as original material heavily influenced by those traditions. The band includes Helen Kuhar on guitar and vocals, Cecily Mills on cello and vocals, and Rohan Weeden on fiddle. They bring the playfulness and dance-ability that hallmarks good contra dance music to all of their performances everywhere they play!
River Road delivers beauty, power, and groove to contra dances with a highly revered mixture of contemporary and traditional tunes with strong influences from Quebecois, New England, & Maritime traditions, featuring Sarah-Hadley Yakir on fiddle, Kristen Planeaux on piano, flute, and accordion, and Jesse Ball on mandolin, guitar, accordion, and foot percussion. While they are geographically divided by the Connecticut river, an aptly named River Road connects them to create an energy that is highly sought after in the contradance scene. Their Facebook group is at River Road Contra Dance Band – Facebook.
Mary Wesley was raised in the cradle of Vermont’s Green Mountains. She found her way to a Burlington contra dance in the fall of 2005 and was immediately hooked. She was later happy to learn that the tradition is in her DNA – she is the granddaughter of two square dance callers!
Mary loves to share her infectious joy for traditional dancing with dancers of all ages and she has something to offer every crowd. She calls contra, square, family and community dances with great joy and finds “chestnuts” absolutely irresistible. In recent years Mary has also become enthralled with Breton (northwestern France) and Balfolk dancing and also enjoys teaching this repertoire. When not calling, Mary works for Vermont Folklife and produces “From the Mic,” a podcast about dance callers for the Country Dance and Song Society.
Will Mentor is a contra and square dance caller from Northern Vermont known for his clear teaching, upbeat wit, and relaxed stage presence. He loves to choreograph evenings with a variety of dances and tempos that at times surprise and always delight – all the while keeping intact his guiding principle as a caller: “It’s about the dancers!”
More info…
For more info on the Hey Fever! dance location check out Location, getting there, food – Ottawa Contra.
The dance weekend schedule will be similar to the 2024 schedule at Hey Fever! Schedule.
We’ll use the terms Larks and Robins for calling left and right positions at Hey Fever! 🙂
Hey Fever 2018: Genticorum with Lisa Greenleaf calling:
Here’s what dancers said about some past Hey Fevers!
2024: “Incredible weekend.” “Great memories.” “I have already started promoting it to other dancers.” “It was ….. FANTASTIC!!!” “It was really really really incredible. I had more fun than at Flurry!” “Can’t wait for next year!” “I can’t remember a more enjoyable festival. Hey Fever was the bee’s knees.”
2019: “It was the epitome of fun.” “We had a 7 hour drive to and from the dance but it was totally worth it.” “I HAD SO MUCH FUN AT HEY FEVER!!! You changed my life.” “I finished the weekend feeling like I’d been away on vacation.” “I never once felt like an outsider.” “very community minded.“
2018: “Amazing bands, wicked callers, awesome crowd, smooth organization” “superb event.” “Great dance! This was my first year and I’ll definitely be back!!” “This was such a spectacular Hey Fever!” “some of the highest quality talent at an event;” “already looking forward to the next one.”
2017: “Was fabulous from start to finish.” “Everyone had a blast.” “I cried a little when it was over.” “My first full weekend dancing, I couldn’t imagine better.” “Hey Fever is becoming one of our favorite dance weekends. It’s a long way from central New Hampshire to Ottawa, but well worth the trip.”
2016: “Hey Fever is one of my favourite dance weekends.” “I can’t imagine a better time.” “Your community in Ottawa is so incredibly wonderful!” “I *love* Hey Fever.” “Totally worth traveling 3000 miles!” “It just gets better every year!” “It was perfect.”
