Worms Christmas — Program Worms in Advent

Four weeks of Advent life in Worms

During the four Advent weeks, the Worms city centre transforms not only through the stalls of the Worms Christmas but also through a dense spiritual-cultural program. The great Worms churches — above all the cathedral St. Peter, the Liebfrauenkirche, the Magnuskirche and the Dreifaltigkeitskirche — open their doors for Advent concerts, devotions and organ concerts. The Worms choirs and music clubs perform at changing locations.

Worms cathedral at the centre

The Worms cathedral St. Peter, one of the three great Rhenish imperial cathedrals (alongside Speyer and Mainz), forms the spiritual centre of the Advent season. Advent concerts with the Worms cathedral choir, organ concerts with pieces by Bach, Buxtehude, Vierne and Messiaen, devotions and solemn high masses fill the program. The Romanesque architecture of the cathedral and the special acoustics of the main nave give the concerts a striking effect.

Worms choirs and music clubs

The Worms choir landscape is broadly positioned: Worms Liederkranz, Worms Männerchor, children's and youth choirs of the Worms schools and parishes, brass bands of the Protestant parishes. They perform at changing locations: on the market stage of the Worms Christmas, in the Worms churches, in retirement homes and hospitals.

St. Nicholas visits at the Tiergarten

A Worms family tradition are the St. Nicholas visits at the Tiergarten Worms on December 6th (in 2026 on a Sunday). St. Nicholas moves through the zoo grounds, distributes small gifts to the children; a donkey team accompanies him. For many Worms families, this date is firmly part of the Advent season.

Advent singing and sing-along formats

In addition to concerts, Worms in Advent strongly relies on sing-along formats: Advent singing in the Worms churches, communal singing on the market stage of the Worms Christmas, the traditional community singing during the bell ringing on the 4th Advent Sunday. These formats activate the audience and create their own atmosphere that differs from the mere consumption of a concert.

Readings and cultural program

Worms bookshops, the Lincoln Theater cultural centre and the Das Wormser conference centre complement the program with Advent readings, nativity plays and winter cultural formats. Detailed program and dates at worms-erleben.de.