TAKE FIVE!

November 16, 2021

Samantha Mango:
Hi, I’m Samantha Mango. Welcome to Sullivan 180 Presents …Take 5!. Our guest today is Lauren Jahoda, Director of Operations and Events at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Welcome Lauren, and thanks for being here!

Lauren Jahoda:
Thank you so much for having me!

Samantha Mango:
As always, can you please introduce yourself and tell us about your role at Bethel Woods?

Lauren Jahoda:
Sure. I’m Lauren Jahoda. I’m the Director of Operations and Events. I oversee the large scale events that happen here: concerts, festivals, “Peace, Love and Lights” ..also “Peace, Love, and Pumpkins”. Really all kinds of things!

Samantha Mango:
Great. Can you tell us about this years “Peace, Love and Lights” at Bethel Woods? It’s going into its second year.

Lauren Jahoda:
Yes! So this is year two, and there’s a lot of changes, and lots of improvements. One of the biggest things is it’s length: last year, we were a mile long. Now we’re 1.7 miles, and with that comes a lot of new displays and a couple of completely new areas! One of our new areas is a “New York” section. We have a fly fisherman, we have the New York city skyline, Niagara Falls, and a couple of other things. We also have a new area called “Holidays Around the World” where we feature all kinds of holidays for everyone to appreciate. And we have our existing areas, like “Christmas Candy Cane Lane”, “Groovy Way”, and “Enchanted Forest”….every single area has new pieces, so things that you experienced last year will be new and updated, without a doubt. One of our favorites, “The Tunnel” is twice the size that it was last year, so I think that’s gonna blow people away. The “Holiday Hub”, the experience when you get out of the car, also has some cool new offerings. The biggest of which is the “Musical Mega Trees”. It’s five trees, with the biggest one standing at 30 feet tall, and they are completely synchronized to music. So it’s like being at a concert when you’re standing in front of them! It’s very cool, and highly recommended. And then we have our food and beverage area that we had last year. We have a couple of photo ops that people will enjoy. And then every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we’re hosting our “Holiday Market”. The market is a little bit smaller than it has been in previous years, so we can incorporate it into “Peace, Love and Lights”. So that’s the four weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas, from 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM. If you come on those Saturdays or Sundays, you can enjoy the “Holiday Market”, hang out, do some S’mores, and then you can do the drive through light experience, which is pretty great!

Samantha Mango:
So this year, again, Sullivan 180 is collaborating with Bethel Woods to sponsor six “Walk-Through Mondays”, which are going to be nights that are dedicated to “walking the holiday light experience”. Can you tell us a little bit more about this?

Lauren Jahoda:
Absolutely. The decision to do an entire night came from a few reasons. One being that it was very popular last year: we had people who came and LOVED IT! The demand is there. It also came out of necessity because, as you extend the route, you need more time to walk the route. So we couldn’t do just an extra hour, like we did last year at the beginning of the night. We figured we could really enhance the experience if we can devote the whole night to it. So that was one of the reasons. Another big change is that it was Wednesdays last year, this year it’s Mondays. The walk-through is going to be great fun! We’re going to have hot chocolate for sale at the beginning of the route. It’s $10 for adults, which is ages 12 and up. It’s free for those 11years and under. Another great benefit is… if you bring a new, unwrapped toy, that gets you one free adult admission. So it’s extremely affordable. It’s great exercise, especially now that it’s over a mile and a half. So you should be prepared to walk! All of the parking will happen in “C Lot”. There is no bus shuttle required as there was last year, since the entrance is in a whole different place than it was last year. So you’ll park in “C LOT”, walk on down to the entrance, which is located in our “E-Lot”. After you do the route, you’ll end up back towards your car. The only other thing to point out is that our last entry time is 7:30 PM. That’s because the walkthrough ends at nine, but it obviously takes time to actually do the walk. So make sure you get there before 7:30. The “Holiday Hub” will be open on those nights as well, so you can go over there when you’re done walking. You’ll be able to speak to people from the Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless, and the donation aspect of this. We’re so happy to be providing this event.

Samantha Mango:
So are we! If you bring a new, unwrapped toy, you get free admission for one adult and the toys will be donated to the Sullivam County Federation for the Homeless, as we did last year. We were able to provide over 70 gifts for families in need across the county. So… Monday nights, dedicating the whole night to walk-through, I’m hoping that we can completely smash the record from last year and help out so many families.

Lauren Jahoda:
I think we’re definitely going to do better than last year!

Samantha Mango:
The families were so appreciative, it really made their holiday season. So it’s a win-win. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Lauren Jahoda:
The basic information is that we actually open Friday, November 19th. We’ll be open every day until January 2nd. We open at 5:00 PM. If you bought a ticket, keep an eye out for that advisory email that comes prior to the date of your tickets, so that you have all the information you need, and remember that the entrance is in a whole new location.

Samantha Mango:
Where can people buy tickets and also check out the calendar? I think you’re running different theme events each week.

Lauren Jahoda:
Our website is the best place to buy tickets and get information.That’s where we have our calendar of events listed. We have all sorts of activities: dinner with Santa on select nights, Holiday Market, we also have a handful of gallery shows that are happening on weekends throughout December. The best place to go for information is obviously the Bethel Woods website.

Samantha Mango:
Great. Sounds like a very busy fun-filled holiday season.

Lauren Jahoda:
YES! Plenty to do!

Samantha Mango:
Thanks for joining us today, Lauren. And we’re very much looking forward to “Peace, Love and Lights”,, especially the Sullivan 180-sponsored “Walk-Throughs Mondays”!

Lauren Jahoda:
Thank you so much. I appreciate. it!