Christmas 2026 · Zurich
Carol services and Christmas church music in Zurich, 2026
Advent in Zurich sounds of Bach. The two great churches of the Reformation city, the Grossmünster and the Fraumünster, fill December with oratorio, candlelight and choirs, and the English-speaking congregation of St Andrew’s keeps the carol service alive. Here is what we could confirm on the churches’ and the concert hall’s own pages on 12 November 2026.
Updated October 2026
St Andrew’s Anglican Church: carols in English
St Andrew’s, Zurich’s Anglican church on the Promenadengasse, holds the city’s English-language carol services. The Advent Carol Service opens the season on Sunday 29 November at 5pm. Carol Services follow on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December, both at 5pm, and on Wednesday 16 December at 7.30pm in the larger Augustinerkirche in the Old Town.
On Christmas Eve, the “Midnight” Service begins at 10pm and lasts about 75 minutes, which, as the church notes, lets you catch a late tram home. The Christmas Day Family Service is at 10.30am. The church also sings carols beyond the city, in St Gallen on 6 December and in Zug on 18 December.
Our advice: services are at St Andrew’s, Promenadengasse 1, unless stated, and most are usually full; the church asks you to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start.
St Andrew’s Zurich: Advent and Christmas services 2026
The Grossmünster: Bach’s Christmas Oratorio
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © JoachimKohler-HB · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsZwingli’s church, its twin towers the emblem of the city, gives its Advent Sundays to choirs. An open carol sing, Offenes Singen, with the youth orchestra Crescendo, is on Sunday 29 November at 4pm. Saint-Saëns’s Oratorio de Noël is sung in concert on Sunday 6 December at 7pm, and the Aargauer Kantorei sings Handel and Mozart in its Advent concert on Sunday 13 December at 5pm.
On the Wednesdays of Advent, 2, 9, 16 and 23 December, Innehalten im Advent offers half an hour of organ music, a hymn, readings and silence at 6.15pm. On Saturday 19 December at 1pm, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is told for children and families, with the Vokalkreis Grossmünster, soloists and orchestra.
On Christmas Eve the Christnachtfeier at 10pm sets Part I of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio within the service, sung by the Collegium Vocale and Collegium Musicum Grossmünster. Part I returns at the Christmas Day service at 10am, and at 2.30pm the afternoon concert sings Parts I and VI. Our advice: for Christmas Eve, come early; check the church’s agenda for any concert tickets.
The Fraumünster: candlelight under the Chagall windows
Across the Limmat, the Fraumünster, with its windows by Marc Chagall and Augusto Giacometti, begins early: the Ensemble Sinfonietta Bern sings Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols on Saturday 28 November at 7.15pm, and on Sunday 29 November at 5pm the Jodlerclub Aefligen sings the Christmas cantata Zwölfischlegel. The candlelit Christmas concert, Christoph Kobelt’s Weihnachtsgeschichte, is on Friday 11 December at 8pm.
On Christmas Eve the Christvesper is held twice, at 3.30pm and 5.30pm, with the lighting of the Christmas tree, a cappella choral music and organ music sung by the Fraumünster Vocal Soloists. The Christmas Day service at 10am brings chorales from Cantata I of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, with the baroque orchestra le buisson prospérant.
On Sunday 27 December the service moves to 5pm for a sing-along with Cantata III of the Christmas Oratorio. Our advice: the Christvesper is the loveliest hour of Zurich’s Christmas Eve; for the 5.30pm service, be in your seat early, then walk the lit Bahnhofstrasse afterwards.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Manuelarosi · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsCarols at the Tonhalle
On Monday 14 December at 7.30pm, Wayne Marshall plays the Kuhn organ of the Grosse Tonhalle in a Christmas recital: Bach’s In dulci jubilo, Naji Hakim’s fantasy on Adeste fideles, Messiaen from La Nativité du Seigneur, Mulet’s Noël, his own improvisations on Christmas melodies, and, to finish, traditional Christmas carols as a sing-along with the audience. Tickets are CHF 85, 70, 55, 40 and 30.
On Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December, the Festive Matinee in the Kleine Tonhalle at 11.15am brings horn sextets and string quartets by Häussler, Koetsier, Webern and Beethoven; tickets are CHF 45. Our advice: book the organ recital early, and join in loudly.
Tonhalle Zürich: Organ recital, Wayne Marshall Tonhalle Zürich: Festive matinee Christmas in Zurich
Questions and answers
Is there an English carol service in Zurich?
Yes. St Andrew’s Anglican Church holds an Advent Carol Service on Sunday 29 November 2026 at 5pm and carol services on 12 and 13 December at 5pm and on 16 December at 7.30pm in the Augustinerkirche. Its Christmas Eve service is at 10pm.
What time is the Christmas Eve service at the Grossmünster?
The Christnachtfeier at the Grossmünster begins at 10pm on Thursday 24 December 2026, with Part I of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. On Christmas Day there is a service at 10am and an afternoon concert of Parts I and VI at 2.30pm.
When is the Christvesper at the Fraumünster?
The Fraumünster holds its Christvesper twice on Christmas Eve 2026, at 3.30pm and 5.30pm, with the lighting of the Christmas tree and a cappella choral and organ music.
Sources: standrewszurich.church, the agendas of grossmuenster.ch and fraumuenster.ch, and tonhalle-orchester.ch, checked 12 November 2026. Check before you go.