News

The 2025 St. Olaf Christmas Festival, O Morning Star, O Radiant Love, will bring thousands of visitors to campus December 5–7.

A beloved tradition on campus since it was first held in 1912, the St. Olaf Christmas Festival features nearly 500 student musicians in the St. Olaf Choir, St. Olaf Chapel Choir, Viking Chorus, Manitou Singers, St. Olaf Cantorei, and the St. Olaf Orchestra. The ensembles perform both individually and together throughout each of the three performances.

St. Olaf Choir Conductor Anton Armstrong ’78 serves as the artistic director of the Christmas Festival, and he’s bringing this year’s music to life alongside fellow conductors James Bobb, Chung Park, Therees Tkach Hibbard, and Joseph Kemper ’11.

“Earlier this year when my colleagues and I were exploring possible themes for the 2025 Christmas Festival, we were very aware of the division and strife filling not only our country but also the world. For many, the world seems bleak with no sense of a guiding light,” Armstrong says. “In our conversations, we found biblical passages with metaphors describing Christ as the bright morning star. The St. Olaf  Christmas Festival is the beginning of the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany season for so many who attend this event. As we prepare to celebrate once again the birth of the Christ child, we look to him to be our ‘Morning Star’ for the promise of hope and light in this dark world filled with so much hate. We seek to fill this world with his ‘Radiant Love.’ Thus, the theme of the 2025 St. Olaf Christmas Festival is O Morning Star, O Radiant Love!”

“The St. Olaf  Christmas Festival is the beginning of the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany season for so many who attend this event. As we prepare to celebrate once again the birth of the Christ child, we look to him to be our ‘Morning Star’ for the promise of hope and light in this dark world filled with so much hate. We seek to fill this world with his ‘Radiant Love.'”

— St. Olaf Christmas Festival Artistic Director Anton Armstrong ’78

While tickets for this year’s Christmas Festival are sold out, the performance on Sunday, December 7, at 3 p.m. CT will be streamed live and broadcast on YourClassicalMPR. Minnesota Public Radio is the exclusive radio media partner of the St. Olaf Christmas Festival and will air the concert throughout December. Audio downloads of the 2025 Christmas Festival will be available on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube, and CDs can be purchased through the campus bookstore.

An on-demand video recording of the 2025 Christmas Festival will be available on December 17 at christmas.stolaf.edu. The recording features a fully edited and mixed version that compiles the best selections of all three performances of the Christmas Festival. 

In addition to the Christmas Festival performances, there are a number of other events on campus to celebrate the season. All of these events are free and open to the public:

• Collegiate Chorale Chapel Service
  December 5 at 10:10 a.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel
  The Collegiate Chorale, conducted by Anton Armstrong ’78, will perform at the chapel service to kick off Christmas Festival weekend. It will be streamed live and archived online.
• Norseman Band Christmas Singalong
  December 5 at 4:30 p.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel
  The Norseman Band, conducted by Michael Buck, will perform holiday favorites.
• Christmas Bells by the St. Olaf Handbell Choirs
  December 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the second level of Buntrock Commons
  The St. Olaf Handbell Choirs, conducted by Jill Mahr, will perform classics of the season.
• Christmas Festival Warming House
  December 6 and 7 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Link in the Center for Art and Dance
  Warm up on your way to the Christmas Festival performance! We invite you to gather in a cozy atmosphere — complete with a beautifully decorated tree and Christmas Festival display. Stop in for a delicious cup of hot chocolate with all the fixings and great conversation with fellow Christmas Festival lovers. It’s the perfect way to share in the holiday spirit and warm up your hands (and your heart!) before the performance begins. All guests are welcome!
• Sunday Service Featuring Music by the St. Olaf Band
  December 7 at 10:30 a.m. in Boe Chapel
  The St. Olaf Band, conducted by Henry L. Dorn, will perform at the Sunday worship service during Christmas Festival weekend. It will be streamed live and archived online.
• Traditional Scandinavian Buffet
  December 5–7 by Reservation in the Buntrock Commons Ballrooms
  Two seatings will be available prior to each Christmas Festival performance. Seatings will last 75 minutes

Learn more and view previous recordings of past Christmas Festivals at christmas.stolaf.edu.