With just 99 days left until Christmas Day, here's what to look out for to feel festive, reports Nadia Jefferson-Brown.
The countdown has already started as York Minster reveals how it plans to mark Advent and the festive season.
Preparations are underway at the Minster as its programme of new activities and events for 2025 takes shape, alongside seasonal favourites, family-friendly activities and a festival of 70 Christmas Trees.
As well as hosting some of the city's most popular events of the year, the cathedral will offer an escape from the hustle and bustle of York’s festive streets, when visitors will be able to find moments of peace and calm reflection.
Highlights of the upcoming season include:
Candlelit carols
The season begins on Advent Sunday 30 November, with the Advent Procession. Starting in complete darkness, the cathedral is illuminated candle by candle, as the procession moves through the building.
Old and new concerts and services will also see the cathedral decorated with candles.
The elegant Ebor Quartet will perform Fairytale at York Minster: Christmas Hits by Candlelight for the first time; The Chapter House Choir will perform their annual concert Carols by Candlelight as it celebrates its 60th anniversary; and the spectacular Sankta Lucia: Festival of Light will return, complete with one brave singer wearing the traditional crown of lit candles.
The return of the Christmas Tree Festival
The popular York Minster Christmas Tree Festival returns for its fifth year from Saturday 29 November, until Monday 5 January when 70 trees decorated by local schools, charities, and businesses will illuminate the cathedral's Chapter House, Nave and Lady Chapel.
Family favourites
Families are invited to help switch on the lights of the Christmas Tree Festival at a special service to mark the beginning of Advent. Families can also enjoy a performance of The Nutcracker performed on the Minster’s Grand Organ and attend the Crib Service which sees local children dress up as characters from the Nativity.
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Festive workshops
The Minster is offering brand-new festive workshops this year. On selected Saturdays in November and December, expert local craftspeople will run hands-on gilding and wreath-making workshops so visitors can make Christmas decorations for their own home.
Traditional services
Christmas worship will include two services of Nine Lessons and Carols (23 and 24 December) and Midnight Mass (24 December). The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York, will preach at the Sung Eucharist for Christmas Day at 11am (25 December).
Daily worship throughout Advent and Christmas will include prayers, music and readings as the season progresses.
The Very Reverend Dominic Barrington, Dean of York, said: “Advent is a vivid preparation for Christmas. Here at York Minster and across the globe, Christians await the coming of Christ: candles are lit, great anthems are sung, and prayers are offered as we prepare once again to celebrate God’s coming into the world as a vulnerable baby.
“There is considerable darkness in our world today and many people live with uncertainty and fear. As we journey through Advent, lighting another candle on our Advent Wreath each Sunday, we are reminded that the light of Christ is inextinguishable and the darkness cannot, and will not, overcome it.
“It is my hope that everyone who visits York Minster during this powerful season can experience that transformative, enduring and unending light.”
For details of York Minster’s Advent and Christmas programme visit www.yorkminster.org
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