The Kerstmarkt-Holland 2025 is a great opportunity to see and hear local handbell duo Larry and Carla, who will be playing traditional Christmas handbell music on two Friday evenings in November and December.
The Kerstmarkt is an annual open-air European-style Christmas market located at the 8th Street Marketplace in Downtown Holland. Come and listen to beautiful festive music as you shop for unique handcrafted gifts and locally-made holiday treats. Coffee and hot cider will be available to help you stay warm!
Most of the Kerstmarkt is under cover, so you can shop for gifts comfortably there. The market is located in downtown Holland, so there are plenty of shops and restaurants close by. There’s enough to do that you could easily turn a visit to the Kerstmarkt into a day trip. The city’s famous “snowmelt” system makes it safe to walk on the heated sidewalks, even if the weather is wintry. The Kerstmarkt will give you a taste of a traditional European Christmas market, without having to fly to Europe!
The weather is unpredictable in December. Whilst it’s safe to walk in downtown Holland in the winter months, it’s wise to dress warmly. Here’s a photo from Kerstmarkt opening day, on a chilly Saturday in 2022!
Admission is free, but tips for the musicians are appreciated!
At the end of the 2024-25 holiday season, it’s time to look back at our December handbell performances!
The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is usually our busiest time of year, as far as handbell performances go. However, this year we didn’t have as many duet bookings as usual. That turned out not to be such a bad thing; we found out at the start of the holiday season that a family member in England was in hospital, and we really needed to go over there as soon as possible. Panic set in for while, because making an emergency trip overseas in December is not an easy thing to do. We’ve never cancelled a holiday handbell performance yet, and didn’t wat to start!
We looked at our calendar, and decided that we should continue as planned with our Christmas bookings, then fly to England as soon as they were all finished. We booked flights for December 21st, and a room in a hotel not far from the hospital. Then we took a few deep breaths, and continued with our December as planned.
Two chilly performances at the Kerstmarkt-Holland
Our 2024 holiday season started in the way that’s become a tradition for us in recent years. We always love to begin our Christmas ringing at the Kerstmarkt! This is a European-style Christmas market in downtown Holland. We even met Santa there this year! It was cold on both evenings we played, and we also had snow on one evening. We always wrap up warmly, though, so we’re well prepared. We go to this event feeling extremely wide, with several layers of extra clothing on! Thanks to the Kerstmarkt organizers, particularly Osman Flowers and Firs, and Shady Side Farm, for inviting us to take part in this festive annual event.
Another outdoor performance, at Otsego Hometown Christmas
We were excited to be asked to perform at Otsego Hometown Christmas again this year. This is another chilly outdoor event (we get a lot of practice with those!), but we enjoyed sharing our music there again. There’s always a lot happening at this community event. There are trailer rides, a live Nativity, and a parade, and it’s a fun way to celebrate the holiday season. Thanks to Otsego District Library for sponsoring our performance again this year.
Back to the Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville!
We were pleased to be invited back for this annual celebration with the Friends of the Library. If we’re remembering correctly, this was our sixth year at this event! We always enjoy the opportunity to play carols and talk about our bells with an attentive and enthusiastic audience. This year, we included a couple of accompanied duets in our program. We have lots of 6- and 8-bell accompanied pieces, and we really wanted to play some of them. We decided to try using an mp3 backing track instead of an actual pianist, and it worked well.
As you can see from the photo, it was a bit of a stormy day! We were scheduled to present a handbell duet program at Paw Paw District Library that evening too. Sadly (but wisely), that event had to be postponed. The snowflakes make for a fun photo, but driving conditions were definitely less than ideal! We’ll now be performing at the library on the evening of Thursday, January 23rd instead. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for no winter storm that day!
Finally, some indoor performances!
We were happy to be able to add our handbell music to another Christmas concert by the Zeeland Community Band. This festive community event has been a highlight of our holiday season for several years now. Here’s a rare photo of us in action!
We enjoyed a couple of performances for private events, including a luncheon for seniors in Wright Township. As December went by, we decided that we had enough time to fit in a couple of fundraising sessions at the Salvation Army Red Kettle too. We hadn’t done that in a few years! We were encouraged by how pleased people were to hear something different at our local D&W Fresh Market. It also helped that we were able to choose a location indoors. After the first few performances in December, we felt that we’d already done our fair share of outdoor ringing!
A quick trip to England
Our pre-Christmas performances in Michigan were all finished on December 20th. On the 21st, we flew to England, to meet with family in Berkshire. We took some of our handbells with us, packed in a carry-on case. We’ve travelled overseas with handbells before, but never risk putting them in our checked luggage. We spent Christmas Day at the hospital, and played carols for patients as they had their Christmas lunch. It was heartwarming to see how the hospital staff worked hard to make Christmas Day festive for patients there. In our “down time”, we enjoyed acting like tourists in the town of Reading, and admiring the old buildings there. We shared some of the photos from our trip on our Facebook page. Our week in England was over far too quickly, and it really didn’t feel like a vacation at all. There were friends and family that we didn’t have the opportunity to see, but we hope it won’t be too long before we can start planning another trip there.
Back to Michigan, for the last days of Christmas
We arrived back in Michigan, tired and a little overwhelmed from our trip. We’d been looking forward to playing at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ on Epiphany Sunday, though. We actually couldn’t remember the last time we’d played handbell duets in an Epiphany Sunday service! We were thankful for one more opportunity to play carols such as Silent Night, The First Nowell, What Child is This and We Three Kings. It was our first visit to this friendly church, but hopefully not our last!
Thank you!
Thank you so much to everyone who supported and encouraged us through our 2024-25 holiday season! If you booked us for a performance, came to one of our handbell concerts, bought music from Choraegus, communicated with us on our Facebook page, or did anything at all to lift our spirits during quite a stressful month – thank you. We’re looking forward to sharing more handbell music with you in the coming year!
It’s been a while since we played handbell duets for an audience; in fact, we haven’t done that since February! Our handbell duet performance in Decatur gave us a chance to visit a new place, and to meet the friendly women of First Presbyterian Church. What a warm welcome they gave us!
The event was a Mother’s Day tea, and we played a variety of hymns and traditional melodies for an enthusiastic and appreciative audience in this small sanctuary. It was an ideal performance space for a small handbell ensemble, and the sound carried surprisingly well, even without amplification.
The 8-bell arrangements we played included Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Greensleeves/What Child Is This, Amazing Grace, Lucerna Laudoniae, To God Be the Glory, Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise, The Gift of Love(The Water is Wide), and Sakura. We also played our fun arrangement of Chopsticks, and demonstrated our handchimes by using them to play Ma Navu.
All the above arrangements are available to purchase from our music site, Choraegus.
During our handbell performance, we gave the audience the opportunity to ask questions. They came up with some interesting ones! We talked about how we met, how often we rehearse, and about Larry’s experience with ringing bass handbells. We also talked about the Kalamazoo Ringers concert coming up on May 21st in Kalamazoo, and encouraged people to go along and see bass chimes taller than Larry!
After the performance, we all went downstairs and enjoyed a reception with coffee and cookies. We received a kind gift of a little glass rooster and some lovely flowers to take home with us.
Our thanks go to the women of First Presbyterian Church for inviting us to give this handbell performance in Decatur. We hope to be back to see you all again someday!
Christmas Day has been and gone, but we’re determined to celebrate the full twelve days of Christmas. We’re at the blissful stage of the year when we can finally take a break, catch our breath, and relax after a busy month of holiday handbell performances!
The holiday season is always our favorite time of year. We get the chance to go out and share our Christmas handbell music, meet new people, and visit new places. We were fortunate that the recent snowy-blizzard weather waited until the second half of December to hit West Michigan, so we didn’t have to make any long drives in bad conditions. It’s always a risk when we arrange our holiday performance schedule, because we all know how unpredictable Michigan winter weather can be! Having said that, we’ve lived in Michigan since 2016, so we’re more used to driving through the snow now. Remember when we drove six hours a day for Larry’s radiation treatment in the winter of 2021? If we can survive that, we can survive anything!
Our 2022 holiday performances
Our 2022 holiday performance season began early this year, on November 19th, with our first of three performances at the Kerstmarkt. This Christmas market in Downtown Holland is always a highlight of our holiday season, but this year was a bit different! The opening day of the Kerstmarkt arrived on a day when snow was falling, and the temperature was… well, chilly, to say the least. Still, we’ve never cancelled a performance yet, so we were determined that this one would go ahead. We still managed to have fun, and we admired the courage of anyone who came out to shop in such terrible weather!
Handbells in the snow
For anyone worrying about our handbells and how they cope with extreme cold, we did take some precautions. We took the bells out into the garage a couple of hours before the performance, so that they’d get used to the drop in temperature gradually. We also didn’t play them too loudly when we got to the event. When we play in the cold, we always notice the change in the way the bells sound, so we don’t put any undue strain on them. There are some bells that really, really don’t like the cold, and they simply refuse to play, so we generally leave everything higher than G6 in the case, and don’t play any pieces that involve any “unhappy” bells.
Fortunately, we had two more opportunities to play at the Kerstmarkt. The weather was never as fierce as that first session, and we even had a bit of sunshine and blue sky!
We were privileged to be invited to perform two duet concerts during Advent. The first was at First United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo, as part of their lunchtime Advent Concert Series. It was wonderful to be able to share our music in such a beautiful space.
Our second concert was at Second Reformed Church in Zeeland. We performed as part of their Second Series: Sublime Art in a Sacred Space concert series. We didn’t have piano accompaniment this time; just an hour of seasonal handbell duets. It was fun to meet and chat with audience members at the post-concert reception.
“Return visit” handbell performances
We’re always pleased to be invited back to give handbell duet performances for groups we’ve played for in past years. This year was our fourth Christmas performance at the Gary Byker Memorial Library in Hudsonville. It’s always a popular event, run by the Friends of the Library. We also spent another evening in concert with the Zeeland Community Band. We’ve been at the ZCB Christmas concert since 2016, and it’s become an annual tradition for us. The band has been growing in number over the last few years, and they sound better than ever! We made return visits to several senior communities and local organizations this year too.
Corporate parties are some of our favorite holiday events, and we had fun playing at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids. We played Christmas music to welcome guests as they arrived at the party.
Concerts with the Kalamazoo Ringers
This December, we also enjoyed playing in a couple of concerts as part of the Kalamazoo Ringers. We took part in the annual Christmas in Kalamazoo event and the group’s Christmas concert at Grace Harbor Church. We even played one of Larry’s arrangements – Gaudete– and the full concert is now available to watch on YouTube.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this holiday season fun!
If you booked us for a performance or Christmas program or wrote a review of our performance – thank you. If you came to one of our concerts, we appreciate you too! To all those who offered us coffee or a meal, chatted with us, or prayed for us – thank you. We enjoyed sharing our handbell music with you, and we hope 2023 will be a happy and healthy year for you all!
Larry and Carla will be presenting a program of Christmas Handbells in Grand Rapids, at a lunchtime event for a local group.
We’ll share some traditional Advent and Christmas music from around the world, and demonstrate how we play our handbell duets in the 4-in-hand style. We’ll be using Malmark handbells and handchimes for this performance. What better way to ring in the Christmas season than by listening to carols played with bells?
This is a private event.
If you’d like to book Larry and Carla to play Christmas handbells in Grand Rapids or anywhere else, you can find lots more information on our website. The traditional sound of handbell music is perfect for creating a festive atmosphere at a Christmas or holiday event. We can also play beautiful music for worship services during Advent and Christmas, and for winter wedding ceremonies. As a handbell duo, we take up less room than a traditional handbell choir, which makes our performances ideal for venues where space is limited. We always recommend early booking for the Christmas and holiday season, but can sometimes accommodate last-minute requests too. If you need more information, or have any questions about our availability, please get in touch!
Free Private event
Kerstmarkt – Holland
150 W 8th St Holland,
MI
49423United States+ Google Map
Ring in the season with Holland-based handbell duo Larry and Carla!
We’ll be returning to the Georgetown Connections Senior Center in Jenison, to play a selection of Christmas handbell duets to welcome the holiday season. We’ll talk about the history of our instruments, and how we play them, and will share traditional music from around the world. Audience members will also have the chance to ask all their burning questions about handbells!
What better way to ring in the Christmas season than by listening to carols played with bells? This is a private event for patrons of this senior community.
If you’d like to book Larry and Carla to play handbell duets for your event, you can find lots more information on our website. The traditional sound of handbell music is perfect for creating a festive atmosphere at a Christmas or holiday event. We can also play beautiful music for worship services during Advent and Christmas, and for winter wedding ceremonies. As a handbell duo, we take up less room than a traditional handbell choir, which makes our performances ideal for venues where space is limited. We always recommend early booking for the Christmas and holiday season, but can sometimes accommodate last-minute requests too. If you need more information, or have any questions about our availability, please get in touch!
Handbell duo Larry and Carla will be playing handbell duets to welcome guests to this company holiday party in Kalamazoo. They will play an hour of background music, followed by a 30-minute focused performance for party guests. Larry and Carla will play a variety of Christmas carols from around the world, and demonstrate the techniques they use to play this unusual instrument. There will even be an opportunity for audience members to play Jingle Bells on handchimes! Who will be brave enough to volunteer? We’ll find out!
This holiday party in Kalamazoo is a private event.
Having a holiday party in Kalamazoo? Would you like to book a handbell performance for your Christmas or holiday event?
Handbell music can add a touch of magic to any holiday party. Larry and Carla are available to welcome your guests with the traditional sound of Christmas bells. Handbells can be an unusual alternative to carolers, and a handbell duo is ideal for private parties or events with a limited amount of space. Larry and Carla are available to perform at private house parties and corporate events.
If you’re too late to book a handbell ensemble for this year, let’s start planning early for next Christmas! Please contact Larry and Carla to find out more about how to book a handbell performance for your holiday event.
Kerstmarkt – Holland
150 W 8th St Holland,
MI
49423United States+ Google Map
Enjoy the traditional sounds of Christmas at Hudsonville Library! Michigan handbell duo Larry and Carla will be back for the third time with a program of handbell duets. Ringing in the Holidays will be the season finale of the library’s Friends Present series for 2021.
Larry and Carla are West Michigan’s smallest handbell choir. They met on a website for handbell musicians when Larry lived in California and Carla lived in England. Their shared love of handbells led to a 3-year long-distance relationship, and eventually to a visa process and marriage. They moved from California to Holland in the summer of 2016.
Larry and Carla will again be demonstrating the art of playing handbells using the traditional “four in hand” technique. Their program will include some well-known carols, as well as some less-familiar holiday tunes from around the world. You’ll hear music played on a set of of handchimes, and a restored set of antique Taylor bells from England. Larry and Carla will talk about the history of these beautiful instruments, and the techniques involved in playing them. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions.
You’ll be able to enjoy refreshments and social time as we celebrate Christmas at Hudsonville Library. We look forward to welcoming you to this popular annual event, presented by the Friends of the Gary Byker Memorial Library.
Free Free to attend; a donation to the Friends of the Library is appreciated
We’ve just returned home from a very long road-trip, all the way from West Michigan to Connecticut and back. We went there for the best-possible reason – for the marriage of two of our friends. It’s been a long time since we played handbell music at a wedding!
With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve had very few opportunities for road-trips and handbell performances in the last year or so. You can imagine our excitement when we received first a “Save the Date” card, followed by an invitation, for a wedding in Connecticut!
A connection made on Facebook!
The bride and groom are a long-distance couple who connected with us on Facebook around ten years ago. At that time, we were still in our own long-distance relationship. Over the years, we’ve connected with a lot of long-distance couples who have contacted us on our Facebook page. Some people reach out to us for one-time advice or support, and we never hear from them again afterwards. However, some couples continue to stay in touch with us, and we’re happy to count them as friends, as we’ve been through similar experiences. It means a lot to us when people share their stories with us, as we shared our long-distance relationship story during the time we were apart.
The bride contacted us on Facebook a few months ago, and asked us if we’d be able to play some handbell duets after their wedding ceremony, to welcome the happy couple and their guests as they left the church. She particularly requested Amazing Grace, so we put together a small selection of hymns and classical music.
Playing handbells outdoors can be interesting!
The day of the wedding dawned dull and cloudy, and we had some concerns about playing outside if it rained. Fortunately the weather stayed dry, if a little windy! As we were attending the wedding primarily as guests, we didn’t want to miss the ceremony, so we stayed until after the vows and rings were exchanged. Then we quickly left the church, and took our bells and equipment down the stairs. We were ready to play in plenty of time for the door to open and the guests to start appearing.
The unexpected challenge of playing handbells in a suit
We coped pretty well with the gusty breeze. When we play outdoors, we’re always thankful for the sheet of plastic that goes over the top of our music to hold it in place! The unexpected challenge turned out to be playing handbells while wearing a suit. As a t-shirt enthusiast, Larry’s not very often seen wearing a suit; in fact this was the first time he’d worn one in more than a decade. Our usual duet performance attire doesn’t involve a suit, and it took a few moments for Larry to adjust his technique so that he didn’t create a “zinging” sound when a bell occasionally collided with a button! Still, all-in-all, the music went very well, and the wedding guests enjoyed it. We received lots of positive comments at the reception afterwards!
Would you like us to play handbells at your wedding?
If you’re hearing wedding bells, and you’d like to find out more about having handbell music for your ceremony, please contact us to find out more about our music, fees and availability. Handbells can be a magical addition to any wedding day!
We had a great time taking part in our first Play Music on the Porch Day! This is a worldwide annual event that takes place on the last Saturday in August – but we’d never heard about it until very recently.
It so happened that we were at our summer cottage in Bay View, Michigan on the day of this year’s event… and our cottage has a porch! However, our cottage is next to a busy street, so it’s quite noisy. We decided it would make more sense to borrow a quieter porch, so we headed over to Evelyn Hall, and played handbell duets there for a couple of hours.
As this “performance” was very much a spur-of-the-moment event, we ended up with an audience of just one person, plus some passers-by. It was a good opportunity for us to bring out some of the pieces we hadn’t played since our street-performing sessions in Downtown Holland last summer! We propped a phone up on a table, and managed to get a few videos, admittedly with a terrible camera angle, but you’ll get the idea. The weather started off rainy with a strong breeze, but later the sun came out, and more people started to appear.
You can find more videos from Play Music on the Porch Day on our YouTube Channel!
We enjoyed doing this so much that we’re already planning more random porch music sessions at Bay View. If you missed the opportunity to take part in Play Music on the Porch Day this year, mark your calendars for the end of August 2021!
