Carol Concerts In London To Get You Feeling Festive
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The best festive singalongs for 2025
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – so let’s get singing. From glorious choirs to celebrity speakers, we’ve put together a list of the best carol concerts in London for Christmas 2025, guaranteed to get you feeling festive.
London’s Best Christmas Carol Concerts 2025
Place2Be Carol Concert 2025
Place2Be’s annual charity Christmas carol concert will return on Thursday 4 December, featuring all your favourite festive songs alongside candelit readings from talented performers and touching stories from the children and young people Place2Be has supported. Sophie Dahl is back as carol concert ambassador, while YolanDa Brown hosts the evening. Guests can expect plenty of mince pies plus performances from the likes of mezzo-soprano Laura Wright and jazz sensation Jamie Cullum, plus readings by big names such as Dominic West, Paloma Faith and Laura Dockrill. Best of all, every pound raised goes straight into supporting children and young people’s mental health.
Details: 6.30pm, Thursday 4 December 2025 at Holy Trinity Sloane Square (Sloane St, London SW1X 9BZ). Remaining tickets are £60pp. If you can’t make it, you can still donate to Place2Be and receive a recording of the magical evening.
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The Smart Works Carol Concert
Smart Works is a vital UK charity supporting unemployed women access the clothing, coaching and confidence they need to secure a job and transform their lives for the better. And their annual Christmas carol concert is a heartwarming celebration of all things festive. Expect powerhouse vocals from MEEK and soaring harmonies from The Disney Voices Choir, while The Times‘s fashion director Anna Murphy delivers a special reading, all hosted by Smart Works patron Emma Barnett.
Details: 6pm, Tuesday 2 December 2025 at St Marylebone Parish Church (17 Marylebone Rd, London NW1 5LT). Tickets start from £11.55pp.
Kids For Kids Candlelit Christmas Concert
Join Dame Joanna Lumley in Belgravia on 4 December for the annual Kids for Kids Candlelit Christmas concert, with all profit going directly to providing urgently needed food items to children facing starvation in Darfur, Sudan. Lumley will be this year’s celebrity reader, with live music and Christmas carols perfectly kicking off the festive season. The evening will conclude with mulled wine and mince pies.
Details: 7pm, Thursday 4 December 2025 at St Peter’s Church Belgravia (119 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9AL). Adult tickets start from £39.50 and kids from £18, but you can donate more if you wish.
All Souls Carols
For free Christmas carols in the city, don’t miss All Souls Carols which welcomed more than 14,000 guests last year and is hidden just a snowball’s throw from Oxford Street. Expect packed pews and 60 minutes of angelic solos and nativity readings and to belt out all the Christmas classics. Mince pies and Christmas punch will also be on offer – again, totally free of charge. You can’t book in advance, but you should manage to squeeze in if you show up 30 minutes early. Those who miss out on a spot indoors are welcome to join the singalong outside with the help of a huge projection of the inside action, with complimentary mince pies and hot punch also on offer here, too.
Details: 13 performances will take place from 13–21 December 2025 at All Souls (Langham Place, London W1B 3DA). See a full list of times and dates at carolservice.com
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Carols For Conservation
There’s a star-studded line-up of celebrity readers at the second annual Carols for Conservation, hosted by Daisy Honeybunn and Ben Goldsmith. Expect your classic evening of Christmas carols with an extra dose of nature, biodiversity and goodwill, with James Norton, Christopher Biggins, Edie Campbell, Rory Bremner, Richard Davison and Nimal Senadheera all lending their high profiles to the cause.
Details: 7.30pm, Thursday 4 December 2025 at Crypt on the Green (St James Church, Clerkenwell Close, London EC1R 0EA). Tickets come with a minimum donation of £50pp.
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Carols By Candlelight For MS Society
Westminster’s historic Central Hall is set to be transformed by festive magic on Thursday 4 December thanks to MetLife UK, raising vital funds for MS Society’s Stop MS Appeal. In between songs performed by the Soul Sanctuary Choir and St Margaret Choristers, audiences can also enjoy festive readings written by Alexander McCall Smith and read by Nicola Walker and Ledley King.
Details: Doors from 6.30pm for a 7pm start, Thursday 4 December 2025 at Central Hall Westminster (Storey’s Gate, London SW1H 9NH). Tickets start from £25pp.
Botivo Community Carol Singing
Tasty 0 percent aperitif Botivo is bringing the Christmas cheer to quieter corners of the city with a festive twist on its much-loved Yellow Hour ritual. Expect the brand’s iconic yellow piano to tour three communities in December (Chelsea, Herne Hill and Broadway Market), delivering joyful singalongs inspired by the charm and cheer of Columbia Road’s crowded carols (in a more intimate setting). All totally free to attend and enjoy.
Details: 5pm, Saturday 6 December 2025 at BookBar Chelsea (11 Chelsea Manor St, London SW3 3TW); 3pm Sunday 7 December at Lulu’s Herne Hill (291 Railton Rd, London SE24 0JP); and 7.30pm Friday 19 December 2025 at Cat & Mutton (76 Broadway Market, London E8 4QJ).
Christmas By Candlelight
Following a sold out performance in 2024, Christmas By Candlelight will return to the West End’s Adelphi Theatre on Tuesday 9 December 2025, showcasing a magical candlelit evening of beloved festive songs performed by West End stars including Jordan Luke Gage (Titanique), Rachel John (Hamilton), Oliver Thompson (&Juliet) and Rachael Wooding (Standing at the Sky’s Edge).
Details: 7.30pm, Tuesday 9 December 2025 at the Adelphi Theatre (409-412 Strand, London WC2R 0NS). Tickets start from £31pp.
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Carols At The Royal Albert Hall
This is the big one. The carol concert at the Royal Albert Hall is a must-attend. Greg Beardsell and Jess Gillam will be presenting, and there’ll be performances from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Choral Society and the National Youth Choir, all conducted by Richard Cooke. With all the classics to be performed in this magnificent setting, it’s sure to be a spectacular night.
When? Various times from 14–24 December 2025 at the Royal Albert Hall (Kensington Gore, South Kensington, London SW7 2AP).
Christmas Concert At Westminster Abbey
Carol concerts here are particularly special – the Westminster Abbey choir in this historic setting is pretty remarkable. With events throughout December, many of which are free, aim to get there early to avoid the (inevitable) long and snaking queue. We’d recommend to try and get seats in the nave for the best view.
Detils: Advent services run throughout December (including on Christmas day), though the main Christmas Concert takes place on 19 December from 7pm. Tickets start from £15pp.
St Paul’s Cathedral’s Christmas Carol Service
St Paul’s is back with a multitude of Christmas events (as usual), from ticketed celebrations to classic free and unticketed Christmas Carol Services (including on Christmas Eve) running throughout December.
Details: Throughout December at St Paul’s Cathedral (St. Paul’s Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD). See all the events at stpauls.co.uk
