LIPA Christmas Concert 2026

The LIPA Christmas Concert is back at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Friday 4 December, starting at 19:30. It's the annual festive show from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, and it's one of the few nights in the city where you'll see so many different parts of the school on one stage.

The line-up brings together the LIPA Big Band, strings, choirs, vocalists and dancers, all from across the Institute's various disciplines. The programme runs from Christmas classics and carols to seasonal favourites spanning the ages, so it's a broad mix rather than one particular style. It's staged as a family-friendly showcase of the next generation of creative talent in Liverpool, and the variety of performers on stage reflects that.

LIPA describes it as their most popular show of the year, an annual feel-good occasion that gathers students from across the Institute's disciplines to celebrate artistry, collaboration and community. That's a good way of putting it, because it's one of the few times the different courses — music, dance, theatre — come together for a single performance rather than working in their own separate silos. The evening is built around that, with the big band, the strings, the choirs, the singers and the dancers all sharing the bill.

It's a family-friendly night, so it's as much for taking the kids along as it is for going with friends. The concert is on Friday 4 December at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, with the first note sounding at 19:30.