Sing for Happiness at Christmas
Can singing change your mood this festive season? Take part in our groundbreaking project
Do you enjoy singing? Take part in our groundbreaking project!
Book to join the Sing for Happiness project here
This autumn, get involved with the ‘mini’ Christmas version of our Sing for Happiness project – with two sessions learning favourite festive tunes, and a final performance here at St George’s.
We kicked off the Sing for Happiness project in 2024, and sang with over 1,500 of you! We made the news and went viral on social media. What’s more, initial results from the first round of research indicate that participants’ feelings of calmness, energy and mood were improved by singing together.
After two years of data collection measuring whether group singing can improve mood and wellbeing the fascinating results of this research will soon be ready to publish. The next stage of the project will move into qualitative research – see below for more details.
Now, the project continues, and you can now sign up to take part. We’d love to sing with you!
We’re working with friendly, experienced choir leaders from the Bristol choir community to learn some great festive songs, meet new people, and find out how singing really affects our wellbeing. And we’d love you to take part and join hundreds of other keen singers! There will be online resources if you want to sing at home too.
Don’t know how to sing? Don’t read music? Never sung before? It doesn’t matter!
Maybe you’re a complete beginner, or maybe you’re already an experienced singer. Or perhaps you’re somewhere in the middle (do you sing in the shower, or in the crowd at a football match?) If any of these apply to you…then why not get involved? The project is open to anyone over 18, regardless of musical experience or ability – you just need to be keen to take part. This exciting and award-winning project has attracted over 1,500 singers to date from all walks of life so far. If you’ve never sung before, or not sung for a while, you’re in very good company, as one third of those taking part say they have not sung since childhood if at all, and a further third have told us that they don’t sing on a regular basis. Alongside the joy of communal singing, there is important research into the impact of singing on mental health, working with specialists from UWE, and we understand it to be the largest study of its kind in the country.
The project will include two in-person rehearsals at St George’s across Autumn 2026, catch-up rehearsals online and a final performance on Sat 5 December.
Please see below for further details, including dates and cost to take part.
Book your tickets here to take part in Sing for Happiness at Christmas 2026
When and Where?
The project will take place across 2 sessions at St George’s Bristol, and a final performance on Sat 5 December 2026.
The sessions are in-person, however there will be online sessions and resources too, for anyone who wants to catch up or sing at home instead.
It is fine to take part in the sessions, but not the final performance, if you’d prefer!
All sessions run 10am – 12.45pm.
- Session 1 – Saturday 24 October 2026
- Session 2 – Saturday 21 November
- Final performance – Saturday 5 December (Final run through 10.30am – 11.30am; Performance 12pm)
- Project participants’ entry to the final performance is included in the participation cost; £5 tickets are available for friends and family who’d like to come and watch you sing! You will be able to book £5 tickets to the final performance via our website shortly.
The important details
Where can I sign up?
Via the booking button on this page! When booking, your ‘ticket’ is valid across the whole project (but will show the date of the final rehearsal). You don’t need to ‘apply’ – simply book if you’d like to take part!
What does it cost?
There is a £40 per person participation cost which covers the professional choir leaders’ time, provision of rehearsal spaces and performance venue and all related copyright fees.
However, if you’d like to take part but cost would be a barrier for you, please call or visit our Box Office during opening hours, and ask to book under our £10 concessionary rate. (0117 929 4929) There are also discounts available for participants aged 18-25.
Our normal booking fees apply for bookings made online and over the phone.
Please see our FAQs below for more information. We will be in touch with all participants prior to Rehearsal 1, with more details.
We will also let you know how to sign up for the research project before rehearsals begin.
What about the research?
After two years of data collection measuring whether group singing can improve mood and wellbeing the fascinating results of this research will soon be ready to publish.
But completing this stage raises interesting questions about how mood and wellbeing changes are occurring through the group singing experience. What could be some of the mechanisms? The next stage of the project will move into qualitative research where Sing for Happiness participants will be invited to talk in detail about their specific experiences so we take a look under the bonnet and find out how and why group singing can affect us.
Carol of the Bells
We are excited to announce a special competition for Sing for Happiness participants to come up with new seasonal words for the Ukrainian song which we know as ‘Carol of the Bells’!
We will provide further details to participants in future emails.
FAQs
What kind of songs will we sing?
The songs are carefully chosen by our experienced community choir leaders to be varied, easy to learn and above all fun!
We sing in four-part harmony (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) but please don’t worry if you haven’t sung in these parts before – we’ll add resources to our password-protected pages in the coming weeks so you can work out which voice type best suits you.
I'd love to take part, but I think I'm a terrible singer. Does this matter?
No, not at all! The project is open to people of all singing abilities, including total beginners. You just have to be keen to take part!
Please note, the project is open only to people aged 18+
We cannot accommodate people below the age of 18 in our sessions or as part of the choir. This is due to licensing, recording, and consent required for the research project.
I haven't sung anything since school. Will I be out of my depth?
No – our friendly session leaders are experienced at teaching and coaching singers of all levels. They’ll make sure you get the most out of the sessions, and will take into account the singing abilities of the participants. There will also be online resources available for anyone who wants to catch up on a rehearsal, or do some more singing at home.
Do I need to know how to read music?
No – there’s no prior experience needed and you won’t have to learn to read music either.
What will I need to bring?
Yourself! You may also want to bring a bottle of water, clothes you’re comfortable moving around in, a pencil (in case you want to make any notes on lyrics sheets), and a smartphone if you’re taking part in the project research (there’s an option to complete the research surveys online via a QR code).
What if I can't make one of the sessions?
Don’t worry! You can come to as many or as few as you’d like. All songs covered in the sessions will also be included in the free online rescources if you want to catch up on what you missed. We’ll also do a final recap before the performance.
My question isn't answered here, help!
Please feel free to ask and we’ll be happy to help.