Bach to Baby Christmas Family Concert

Bach to Baby are bringing their Christmas family concert to Reading Minster on Tuesday 1 December, from 4:00 to 4:45 PM. It's a live classical concert built for babies, toddlers and their carers, and for older children and families too. The whole thing runs for forty-five minutes, so it fits into a late-afternoon window that works around nap times and early tea.

The music is paired with festive themes, sleigh bells and singalong carols, and it pulls from a range of genres, instruments and styles. It's a live performance rather than a recording, and the organisers make a point of what it isn't: it's not a carol service and it's not a Santa's grotto. They encourage fancy dress and loud singing, so you don't have to worry about a toddler making noise or a baby getting restless — that's exactly the kind of crowd it's for.

The venue is Reading Minster, the Church of St Mary the Virgin, on Chain Street in the heart of town. It's a spot with some deep local history: archery was practised here in the Middle Ages, and the original church sat in the shadow of Reading Abbey, which King Henry I founded in 1121 and Henry VIII dissolved in 1539. St Mary's was rebuilt between 1550 and 1555 using materials from the Abbey, and it still looks much the same today.

Tickets are £19.84, and the concert runs from 4:00 to 4:45 PM on Tuesday 1 December at Reading Minster, Chain Street, Reading RG1 2LG.