The St. Olaf Christmas Festival is a concert performance that has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations.
Tickets to the event - which takes place at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN - are always gone months in advance.
Started in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf College Music Department, the festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra.
This year's festival features the St. Olaf Choir, the St. Olaf Orchestra, the St. Olaf Cantorei, the St. Olaf Chapel Choir, the Manitou Singers, and the Viking Chorus, performing both as individual groups and as a massed ensemble.
Read a history of the festival (PDF).
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