In the past, the East Village holiday tradition known as Unsilent Night has proceeded undeterred against the red menace that is SantaCon (remember UnsilentaCon?), so it’s surprising that something would stop it in its tracks on its 25th anniversary. But this is a brave new world we live in, and the annual roving sound collage orchestrated by composer Phil Kline has announced that it has moved the date of this year’s stroll “due to a large political rally in Washington Square Park planned for the same evening.”
Unsilent Night had been set for Dec. 17, but organizers now say they’ll meet at the Washington Square arch the next day. Dec. 18, at 5:45pm. We’re assuming the Dec. 17 rally in question is Not Straight Against Hate, described as a “march to defend and protect LGBTQ rights and freedoms” against the new administration.
Actually, it’s pretty hard to book Washington Square Park these days. There’s also a Love and Equality Rally on Dec.3. And on a more apolitical note (unless you’ve picked a side in the War on Christmas), there’s the annual tree lighting on Dec. 7.