Christmas 2026 · Brighton, Sussex and the South Coast

Christmas carol services in Brighton, Sussex and the South Coast, 2026

Candlelight, a choir and a cathedral full of strangers singing the same carols: for many people it is the moment Christmas begins. Here are the carol services and Christmas concerts we could confirm on the churches’ and venues’ own pages on 12 November 2026, from Brighton and Hove to the cathedrals of Sussex and Hampshire.

Updated October 2026

By the ULTIMATE Brighton Editorial Team

Carols in Brighton and Hove

St Peter’s, the great Gothic church on York Place at the head of Valley Gardens, has the fullest programme in the city: Family Carols on Sunday 6 December at 10.30am, Pub Carols on Tuesday 8 December at 7.30pm, Carols at 5pm and 7pm on Sunday 13 December, and Carols by Candlelight at 5pm and 7pm on Sunday 20 December. The two candlelit evenings need a free ticket, booked through the church’s website; donations are welcome. Midnight Mass is at 11pm on Christmas Eve and the Christmas Day celebration at 10am.

In Hove, All Saints on The Drive opens Advent with a candlelit procession on Sunday 29 November at 7pm. Christingle follows on Sunday 6 December (crafts from 2pm, service at 3pm), then Christmas by Candlelight, a ticketed concert by the Choirs of All Saints with Brighton Voices, on Sunday 13 December at 7pm (no tickets on the door). Nine Lessons and Carols is on Sunday 20 December at 7pm; on Christmas Eve there is a Crib Service at 3pm and Midnight Mass at 11.30pm.

Brighton’s Anglo-Catholic churches keep the old Christmas liturgy, with their 2026 times still to be published when we checked: St Bartholomew’s on Ann Street, the tallest parish church in the country, lists a Carol Service, Crib Service, Midnight Mass and Christmas Day Solemn Mass; St Michael and All Angels on Victoria Road holds a candlelit carol service with mulled wine and mince pies and a First Mass of Christmas by candlelight; and St Nicholas on Church Street, Brighton’s oldest church, holds a carol service. Check each church’s page in December.

St Peter’s Brighton: Christmas All Saints Hove: Advent and Christmas St Bartholomew’s: services St Michael and All Angels: Advent and Christmas St Nicholas Brighton

Carol concerts: the Royal Pavilion and Brighton Dome

On Wednesday 16 December the Royal Pavilion holds a Carol Concert in its Music Room, the most theatrical room in the palace, with local choirs singing under the lotus chandeliers. Doors open at 7pm and the concert runs from 7.30pm to 9.30pm with an interval, when a mince pie and a glass of prosecco are served in the Banqueting Room. Tickets are £38, from Brighton & Hove Museums.

Across the garden, Brighton Festival Chorus presents Christmas with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the Concert Hall of Brighton Dome on Sunday 13 December at 4pm, with the Brighton Festival Youth Choir, the conductor James Morgan, the mezzo Juliette Pochin and the baritone Alex Otterburn: carols for everyone to sing among the choral and orchestral favourites. Tickets are £20 to £50, half price for under-16s.

Our advice: the Pavilion concert is small and sells out; book as soon as you can, and arrive early to see the Banqueting Room laid for Christmas.

Royal Pavilion: Carol Concert Brighton Dome: Christmas with the RPO

Chichester Cathedral

Sussex’s cathedral, begun in 1075 and consecrated in 1108, its spire rebuilt under Sir George Gilbert Scott after it fell in 1861, is an hour from Brighton by the coastway train. Its candlelit Advent Procession is on Sunday 29 November at 4.30pm. The Carol Service is sung four times: Friday 18 December at 6pm, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December at 3pm (the Sunday service is also livestreamed) and Monday 21 December at 6pm.

On Christmas Eve there are Children’s Carols at the Crib at 11am and 2pm, Evensong at 6pm and Midnight Mass at 11pm. On Christmas Day the services run from a said Communion at 8am to the Christmas Day Eucharist at 11am, and the cathedral closes to visitors at 12.30pm. The Epiphany Procession is on Sunday 3 January 2027 at 6pm.

None of the cathedral’s own services is ticketed: seats are first come, first served, and the doors open an hour before. Our advice: for the Carol Service, be in the queue when the doors open, and walk the Market Cross lights afterwards.

Chichester Cathedral: Advent and Christmas Christmas in Chichester

Arundel Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Our Lady and St Philip Howard, on London Road above the town, is Joseph Hansom’s French Gothic church, begun in 1869 and opened in 1873. Its Christmas times were not yet published when we checked: the cathedral posts them in its weekly newsletter, and the regular Masses are on Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 11am. Our advice: combine a service with the town’s own Christmas, under the castle.

Arundel Cathedral: news and newsletter Christmas in Arundel

Further west: Winchester and Portsmouth cathedrals

Winchester Cathedral sings carols for most of December. Market Carols, during the Christmas market in the Close, are on 6 and 13 December at 3.30pm; A Winchester Christmas, a Christmas Evensong, on 8, 10 and 11 December at 5.30pm and on 14, 15, 17, 18 and 19 December at 5.15pm; and the Carol Services on 20 and 23 December at 7pm (the 21 December service is for the community, and online for everyone else). On Christmas Eve there are Carols with the Blessing of the Crib at 5.30pm and Midnight Mass at 11pm. Worship is free and there is no booking: come early.

Portsmouth Cathedral opens Advent with its carol service From Darkness to Light on Sunday 29 November at 5.45pm. Coffee and Carols follows on Saturday 19 December at 11am, and the Christmas Carol Services are on 20, 22 and 23 December at 6.30pm. On Christmas Eve there are Crib Services at 3pm and 4pm, a Carol Service with the Blessing of the Crib at 6.30pm and Midnight Mass at 11pm.

Our advice: Winchester’s Evensongs are the quietest way to hear its choir at Christmas; pair one with the Cathedral Christmas Market in the Close.

Winchester Cathedral: Christmas services Portsmouth Cathedral: Christmas Christmas in Portsmouth

How to get a seat

The best-loved services fill early. Where a church issues tickets, even free ones, book online as soon as they are released; where it does not, arrive at least 45 minutes before the start, and an hour for Chichester and Winchester. Dress warmly: old churches are cold in December. A collection is usually taken for the church or a Christmas charity.

Our advice: Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, so the carol services cluster on the weekend of 19 and 20 December. Check each church’s own page in the week before you go, as times can change.

Questions and answers

When is the carol service at Chichester Cathedral in 2026?

The Carol Service is on Friday 18 December at 6pm, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December at 3pm, and Monday 21 December at 6pm. It is not ticketed: seats are first come, first served, and the doors open an hour before.

Where can I hear carols by candlelight in Brighton in 2026?

St Peter’s Church on York Place holds Carols by Candlelight on Sunday 20 December at 5pm and 7pm (free tickets from the church), the Royal Pavilion has a Carol Concert in its Music Room on Wednesday 16 December, and All Saints Hove holds Nine Lessons and Carols on Sunday 20 December at 7pm.

Do I need tickets for carol services?

It depends on the church. Chichester and Winchester cathedrals do not ticket their services (come early); St Peter’s Brighton issues free tickets for its candlelit carols; concerts such as the Royal Pavilion’s and Brighton Dome’s are paid.

Times and dates from each church’s or venue’s own page (chichestercathedral.org.uk, winchester-cathedral.org.uk, portsmouthcathedral.org.uk, arundelcathedral.uk, stpetersbrighton.org, allsaintshove.org, stbartholomewsbrighton.org.uk, stnicholasbrighton.org.uk, achurchnearyou.com, brightonmuseums.org.uk, brightondome.org), checked 12 November 2026. Check before you go.