Lessons and Carols

Lessons and Carols returns to St Albans Cathedral on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 December, two of the big candlelit services that anchor the cathedral's Christmas programme. It's a familiar one for the city: seasonal readings woven through with carols, all sung by the Cathedral Choir.

There's a specific way the evening unfolds. It opens with the choir singing Silent Night as candlelight spills through the cathedral, and from there it follows a pattern of seasonal lessons interspersed with popular carols and the Christmas motets that have become a particular draw. The choir handles everything — the carols, the motets, and that opening Silent Night — so the singing stays the central thread throughout.

The setting does a fair bit of the heavy lifting here. St Albans Cathedral is a shrine to Britain's first saint and the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in the country, and it sits right at the heart of the city as a place of worship, music, learning, heritage and events. Lessons and Carols is just one part of the wider festive offering this year, which also includes Carols on the Hour, a live Nativity trail and a Christingle service.

Both services start at 7.30pm, with doors opening at 6.30pm and last entry at 7pm. The 22 December service will be livestreamed, so you can catch it from home if you can't make it in person. Tickets are a suggested donation of £10, and the cathedral is at Sumpter Yard, St Albans, AL1 1BY.