Jethro Tull plays Chelmsford Cathedral on 3 December, from £35; Messiah is 15 December. Every Christmas concert, with prices; carol service dates still to come.
Chelmsford’s Christmas concert season runs from 14 November to 28 December, and most of it is in the cathedral. The headline is Christmas with Jethro Tull on Thursday 3 December, tickets from £35. The cathedral’s own carol services, which are free, have not been dated for 2026 yet.
The quick answer
- Biggest name: Ian Anderson’s Christmas with Jethro Tull, Chelmsford Cathedral, Thursday 3 December, 7.30pm, £35 to £55.
- Most popular format: Christmas by Candlelight, Thursday 10 December, two sittings, £15 to £45 plus a £4.50 booking fee.
- The classical choice: Wild Arts’ staged Messiah, Tuesday 15 December, 7pm, in its third year at the cathedral.
- Free carol services are not yet published for 2026. The cathedral’s last published list ran from Advent Sunday to Nine Lessons and Carols on the three nights before Christmas Eve.
Every Christmas concert, in date order
| Concert | When | Where | Tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step Into Christmas | Sat 14 Nov, 8pm | Chelmsford Theatre | £36 |
| The Christmas Orchestra | Tue 24 Nov, 7pm or 9.30pm | Chelmsford Cathedral | Sold by the promoter; price not on the cathedral listing |
| London Concertante: Christmas Concertos and The Four Seasons | Fri 27 Nov, 7.30pm | Chelmsford Cathedral | Sold by London Concertante; price not on the cathedral listing |
| The Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker (screening) | Tue 1 Dec, 7.15pm | Chelmsford Theatre Studio | £15 to £18.50 |
| Christmas with Jethro Tull | Thu 3 Dec, doors 7pm, 7.30pm | Chelmsford Cathedral | £35 to £55, plus £1.25 a ticket |
| A CK Gospel Christmas Show | Sun 6 Dec, 7.30pm | Chelmsford Theatre Studio | £23 to £27 |
| Christmas by Candlelight | Thu 10 Dec, 6.45pm or 9pm | Chelmsford Cathedral | £15 to £45, plus £4.50 booking fee |
| Wild Arts: Handel's Messiah | Tue 15 Dec, 7pm | Chelmsford Cathedral | Price not on the cathedral listing |
| London Concertante: Christmas at the Movies | Mon 28 Dec, 7.30pm | Chelmsford Cathedral | Price not on the cathedral listing |
Where the cathedral hosts a touring promoter, it links out to the promoter’s own box office and does not print the price. We have not guessed those.
Christmas with Jethro Tull, 3 December
Ian Anderson brings his Christmas Jethro Tull concert to the cathedral on Thursday 3 December. Doors open at 7pm and the concert starts at 7.30pm, finishing at about 10pm. Anderson describes it as Jethro Tull’s best-known songs mixed with “a few of the elements of an old-fashioned carol service”, and the profits go to the cathedral’s upkeep and its music (Chelmsford Cathedral).
Tickets are in four bands: £55 premium view, £45 good view, £40 some restricted viewing and £35 restricted view, plus £1.25 a ticket in booking fees. They are refundable only if the cathedral changes or cancels the event. There is a licensed bar before the show and in the interval.
Christmas by Candlelight, 10 December
The candlelit Christmas pop concert returns on Thursday 10 December in two sittings: doors 6.15pm for a 6.45pm to 8pm show, or doors 8.30pm for 9pm to 10.15pm. A cast of West End singers and a live band do White Christmas, Let It Snow, Santa Baby, O Holy Night and the rest (Chelmsford Cathedral).
The seat you buy matters more than at most concerts, because the cathedral is long and its aisles are side-on:
- £45 VIP and £40 premium: the first rows and the block behind them
- £35 band A: the rear of the main nave
- £30 band B: the far north aisle, side facing
- £25 band C: north or front south aisle, restricted view
- £15: the rear south aisle, with no view of the stage
Every price carries a £4.50 booking fee. The same promoter runs the Fleetwood Mac (23 October) and Queen (13 November) candlelight nights here, on the same seating plan.
Handel’s Messiah, 15 December
Wild Arts brings its staged Messiah back for a third year on Tuesday 15 December, 7pm to 9.20pm. Eight singers perform the whole work from memory, moving around the cathedral and among the audience, in staging by Tom Morris, the director of War Horse. Orlando Jopling directs the period-instrument Wild Arts Ensemble from the harpsichord (Chelmsford Cathedral).
The rest of the season
- The Christmas Orchestra, Tuesday 24 November, 7pm or 9.30pm, Chelmsford Cathedral: carols, film scores and Christmas classics with professional musicians (Chelmsford Cathedral).
- London Concertante, Friday 27 November, 7.30pm, Chelmsford Cathedral: the Messiah overture, Corelli’s and Torelli’s Christmas Concertos, Bach’s A minor Violin Concerto and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, with Charlie Lovell-Jones. The cathedral’s web address for this concert still mentions The Lark Ascending, but the published programme does not (Chelmsford Cathedral).
- London Concertante: Christmas at the Movies, Monday 28 December, 7.30pm, Chelmsford Cathedral: Home Alone, The Polar Express, Elf, Love Actually, The Snowman and It’s a Wonderful Life (Chelmsford Cathedral).
- Step Into Christmas, Saturday 14 November, 8pm, Chelmsford Theatre, £36: Christmas pop classics with a live band (Chelmsford Theatre).
- The Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker, a screening, Tuesday 1 December, 7.15pm, Chelmsford Theatre Studio, £15 to £18.50, 140 minutes (Chelmsford Theatre).
- A CK Gospel Christmas Show, Sunday 6 December, 7.30pm, Chelmsford Theatre Studio, £23 to £27, 110 minutes (Chelmsford Theatre).
Already gone: Dyad Productions’ one-man A Christmas Carol on 9 December shows as sold out on the theatre’s site.
Carol services: not dated yet
Chelmsford Cathedral has not published its 2026 Advent and Christmas services. The most recent list on its site is for 2024, and it gives the shape to expect (Chelmsford Cathedral):
- an Advent Procession at 6pm on Advent Sunday, with mulled wine and mince pies afterwards
- Midday Carols on the last two Fridays before Christmas, in place of the lunchtime concert
- Carols by Candlelight on a Sunday and a Friday in mid-December
- the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at 6.30pm on three evenings running, just before Christmas Eve
In 2026 Advent Sunday falls on 29 November. We will add the cathedral’s dates and times here when it publishes them.
Getting there and parking
The cathedral is on New Street and the theatre on Fairfield Road, and both are a short walk from Chelmsford station. December evenings are the busiest of the year in the city centre car parks: tariffs and the nearest car parks are on our parking in Chelmsford page, and any works affecting the centre are on our roadworks and travel page. For trains home after a late sitting, see our Christmas train times page.
More this Christmas
- Chelmsford Christmas markets
- Chelmsford pantomime: Cinderella
- Enlightened at Hylands light trail
- Chelmsford Christmas lights switch-on
- What’s on in Chelmsford this month
What we will update, and when
- Carol service dates and times, when the cathedral publishes them.
- Prices for the Christmas Orchestra, London Concertante and Messiah, if the cathedral adds them to its listings.
- Sell-outs, as they happen.
Sources
- Chelmsford Cathedral: events calendar and each concert’s own page linked above, read 7 October 2026
- Chelmsford Cathedral: Celebrate Christmas at Chelmsford Cathedral, the 2024 service list
- Chelmsford Theatre: what’s on, and each show’s own page linked above, read 7 October 2026, including A Christmas Carol
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