York Early Music Christmas Festival
Established in 1997, the festival is a key event in the city's festive calendar, showcasing music from Advent to Epiphany.

❄️Winter festival
When
❄️Winter festival
Fri, 5 December 2025 — Sun, 14 December 2025
About
The York Early Music Christmas Festival was created in 1997 to introduce audiences to the extraordinary wealth of music associated with Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, from the Medieval to the Baroque, intertwined with the sagas, stories and tales of the north.
This year’s Christmas festival brings together seasonal music from across the ages with some of the most beautiful repertory from the likes of Haydn, Schumann and Mendelssohn thanks to mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston - performing alongside pianist Sholto Kynoch; and fellow BBC New Generation Artists the Consone Quartet appearing together on the NCEM stage with the internationally-acclaimed Chiaroscuro Quartet – presenting one of the most celebrated works in the classical repertory - Mendelssohn’s Octet.
Events

Apollo's Juxebox Menu - Christmas Edition
Apollo's Cabinet
Fri, 5 December 2025
National Centre for Early Music
7:00pm
£23 (conc. available)
York Early Music Christmas Festival

Choral Workshop
Rory McCleery
Sat, 6 December 2025
Bedern Hall
10:15am
£25 (conc. available)
York Early Music Christmas Festival

A Lyrical Interlude
Helen Charlston | Sholto Kynoch
Sat, 6 December 2025
National Centre for Early Music
12:30pm
£25 (conc. available)
York Early Music Christmas Festival

Haydn: The Creation
Yorkshire Baroque Soloists
Sat, 6 December 2025
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, U. of York
7:30pm
£35 (conc. available)
York Early Music Christmas Festival

Contrast and Continuity: From the Renaissance to the Baroque
John Bryan
Sun, 7 December 2025
National Centre for Early Music
10:15am
£12.50 Including coffee on arrival
York Early Music Christmas Festival

Facets of Time
Dowland's Foundry
Sun, 7 December 2025
Bedern Hall, York
2:00pm
£23 (conc. available)
York Early Music Christmas Festival

Mendelssohn Octet
Chiaroscuro Quartet & Consone Quartet
Sun, 7 December 2025
National Centre for Early Music
6:30pm
£35 (conc. available)
York Early Music Christmas Festival

Looking Bach to Palestrina
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
Mon, 8 December 2025
National Centre for Early Music
6:30pm
£35 (conc. available) inc. mince pies on arrival
York Early Music Christmas Festival

The Crimson Sun
Apollo5
Tue, 9 December 2025
National Centre for Early Music
6:30pm
£35 (conc. available)
York Early Music Christmas Festival

Echoes of the Spanish Baroque
Lowe Ensemble
Fri, 12 December 2025
St Margaret´s Church, York
12:30pm
£15 (conc. available)
York Early Music Christmas Festival

From the Church to the Tavern
Fieri Consort
Fri, 12 December 2025
National Centre for Early Music
6:00pm
£28 (conc. available)
York Early Music Christmas Festival

Here we come a'carolling
Joglaresa
Sun, 14 December 2025
National Centre for Early Music
6:30pm
£30 (conc. available) inc. mince pies on arrival
York Early Music Christmas Festival
Location
York