Westminster Abbey releases Lessons and Carols tickets on 16 and 18 November. St Martin-in-the-Fields' carol services need no ticket; the dates are below.

Westminster Abbey will release its 2026 Lessons and Carols tickets on Monday 16 November and Wednesday 18 November, at 9.30am and 2.30pm on each day. That is the only date the Abbey has published so far: it has not yet listed the services themselves. If you want to sing carols without a ticket, St Martin-in-the-Fields holds Nine Lessons and Carols at 3pm and 5pm on Sunday 13 December, and two carol services on Christmas Eve, with no tickets issued.

The quick answer

  • Westminster Abbey Lessons and Carols: tickets released Monday 16 and Wednesday 18 November, 9.30am and 2.30pm. Service dates not yet published.
  • St Martin-in-the-Fields: Nine Lessons and Carols, Sunday 13 December, 3pm and 5pm; Parish Carol Service, Christmas Eve, 3.30pm and 5.30pm. Free, no tickets.
  • Westminster Cathedral: A Christmas Celebration, Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 December, 7.30pm, ticketed.
  • Trafalgar Square: choirs sing under the tree in one-hour sessions through December; the GLA confirms its singers by 13 November.
  • Christmas Day and midnight services: St Martin’s has published its times (below); the Abbey and the Cathedral have not yet.

Westminster Abbey

The Abbey’s Advent and Christmas page, read on 17 October, says: “Tickets for our Lessons and Carols services will be released on Monday November 16th and Wednesday November 18th at 9:30am and 2:30pm. More information will be added to the website closer to the time.” It does not give the service dates, how many tickets there are, or whether they are free, so we are not guessing at any of those. Set an alarm for 9.30am on the 16th and check the page that morning.

The Abbey has also listed three ticketed Christmas events, all with their own booking:

Event Date and time Where Price
Family day: Christmas crafts and carols Saturday 5 December, 10am to 1pm Chapter House Free, booking required; tickets out Friday 13 November
Concert: A Seasonal Celebration of Benjamin Britten Saturday 5 December, 6.30pm to 7.30pm St Margaret’s Church £0 to £20
Lunchtime talk: The origins of carols Wednesday 9 December, 1pm to 1.50pm St Margaret’s Church £6.13 including booking fee

The Britten concert is by candlelight, with the St Margaret’s Choristers and Consort singing A Ceremony of Carols. At the lunchtime talk, the music historian Jeremy Summerly tells the history of carols, with singers from the Abbey’s Special Service Choir.

St Martin-in-the-Fields

The church on Trafalgar Square publishes its full Christmas programme on its Christmas concerts and services page. Its services carry the same line on every listing: “We do not issue tickets for services and all are welcome.”

Service Date and time
Blessing of the Crib on Trafalgar Square Sunday 6 December, 5pm
Nine Lessons and Carols Sunday 13 December, 3pm and 5pm
Dramatised nativity and Blessing of the Crib Thursday 24 December, 1pm
Parish Carol Service Thursday 24 December, 3.30pm and 5.30pm
Midnight Mass Thursday 24 December, 11pm
Christmas Day Eucharist Friday 25 December, 10.30am

St Martin’s also runs a long season of ticketed carol concerts. Its own Carols by Candlelight is on Tuesday 1, Sunday 6, Saturday 12, Sunday 13 and Wednesday 16 December at 7.30pm, from £10 to £39.50 (St Martin-in-the-Fields). Carols for Christmas by Candlelight runs at 4pm from Sunday 20 to Wednesday 23 December, £10 to £27.50 (St Martin-in-the-Fields). For families, Festive Family Carols with St Martin’s Junior Choir is on Saturday 12 December at 2pm, £10 to £27.50 (St Martin-in-the-Fields).

Westminster Cathedral

Westminster Cathedral’s events calendar lists two Christmas events so far:

  • A Christmas Celebration, Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 December, 7.30pm, doors 6.45pm. “Festive music and readings” with celebrity readers and the Cathedral Choir and Orchestra under Simon Johnson. Tickets are sold in the Cathedral gift shop or through Ticketmaster, in aid of the Cathedral; no price is given on the Cathedral’s page.
  • Friends’ Carols by Candlelight, Monday 7 December, 6.30pm to 9pm. It starts in Cathedral Hall on Ambrosden Avenue, moves to the Lady Chapel for carols, and ends with refreshments. Tickets £30.

The Cathedral’s Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Mass times were not on its calendar when we checked. We will add them when they appear.

Carols under the tree in Trafalgar Square

The Greater London Authority runs one-hour carol singing sessions at the foot of the Trafalgar Square tree “throughout December”. There is no stage and no sound system, which is the point: you stand with the choir. Choirs can apply until Friday 6 November, and the GLA says it will confirm their dates by Friday 13 November. The daily schedule is not public yet. Our Trafalgar Square tree lighting page covers the lighting ceremony, where the St Martin-in-the-Fields choir traditionally sings.

Getting there

All four venues are close together. Westminster station (Jubilee, District and Circle lines) is nearest the Abbey; Victoria is a short walk from the Cathedral; Charing Cross and Leicester Square serve Trafalgar Square and St Martin’s. If you are driving, our Westminster parking zones and hours page explains the controlled hours, and our roadworks and travel page has live closures. For trains over the holiday, see our Christmas travel page.

Still to be confirmed

  • Westminster Abbey’s Lessons and Carols service dates and ticket details, due by the 16 November release.
  • Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral Christmas Eve, midnight and Christmas Day service times.
  • The GLA’s daily Trafalgar Square carol singing schedule.

We will update this page as each is published. For everything else on in the borough, see What’s On in Westminster this month.

Sources