43rd Annual Fiddle & Dance Extravaganza

Next date: Friday, September 04, 2026 | 07:30 PM to 10:00 PM

Alasdair Fraser’s 43rd Annual Fiddle & Dance Extravaganza
“A Night at the Dance”
Scottish Ceilidh Dance
With Alasdair Fraser, Rakish, and the Valley of the Moon Ceilidh Band

New England Contra
with Rodney Miller

Fiesta Castellana
with San Miguel Fraser

The Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle & Dance Camp is back at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium with the same infectious energy that’s made it legendary. This lively gathering of over 200 fiddlers, cellists, guitarists, and more will return ‘home’ to the Civic Auditorium for an unforgettable night of music, dance, song, and audience participation on Friday, September 4. Doors will open at 6:30pm with an inclusive pre-show dance introduction and a showtime of 7:30pm. This music and dance spectacular will bring to life the joyful connection between musicians and dancers, featuring vibrant styles from New England Contra and Scottish Ceilidh to Spanish Castilian dancing.

Dances will be led by acclaimed faculty dance instructors — and joined by the enthusiastic campers with live musicians — and the evening promises to get everyone on their feet regardless of their level of experience. Dance callers/instructors include Summer McCall (Ceilidh), Susan Michaels (Contra), Maria San Miguel (Castilian), and Nic Gareiss (Step).

For those who’d rather sit back and soak it all in, the evening offers an impressive lineup of standout performances by world-class musicians and gifted campers alike. Audiences can look forward to performances by award-winning Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser , New England Contra ambassadors Rodney Miller and Jeffrey Spero , the exquisite and exhilarating Castilian Celtic duo San Miguel Fraser (Maria San Miguel & Galen Fraser), the highly acclaimed traditional duo Rakish (Maura Shawn Scanlin & Conor Hearn), master traditional cellist Natalie Haas , and “sonic magpie” Laura Cortese — plus nearly a dozen more exceptional faculty artists.