O Hush the Noise: A Weary World Rejoices
For nearly a century, the Capital University Christmas Festival has welcomed generations of students, alumni, families, and friends into the beauty and wonder of the Christmas season. The 2026 Festival continues that treasured tradition as Capital University’s choral ensembles—Chapel Choir, Choral Union, and Cantabile—join instrumentalists from the Conservatory of Music and the greater Columbus arts community for an immersive celebration of music, story, faith, and light.
Set in the intimate beauty of Mees Hall, the Christmas Festival surrounds the audience with music from throughout the hall, weaving beloved carols and extraordinary musical repertoire together with readings of Scripture, poetry, and prose. More than a concert, the Festival invites us to enter deeply into the mystery and meaning of Christmas.
This Year’s Theme: “O Hush the Noise: A Weary World Rejoices”
Our world can be a noisy place. We live amid competing voices, division, anxiety, distraction, and weariness—conditions that can make genuine listening increasingly difficult.
This year’s Festival begins with an invitation from the beloved carol It Came Upon the Midnight Clear:
“O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
and hear the angels sing.”
“O Hush the Noise” is not an invitation to ignore the world’s troubles or silence difficult voices. It is an invitation to become still enough to listen: to one another, to the deepest longings within ourselves, and to the voice of God calling us toward peace.
At Christmas, that invitation meets another familiar proclamation. In O Holy Night, we hear of a world that has waited long for light until, suddenly, “the weary world rejoices.”
The weariness is real—but it is not the end of the story.
Through the mystery of Christmas, stillness gives way to listening, listening opens a path toward healing, darkness receives light, and weariness discovers the possibility of joy. “O Hush the Noise: A Weary World Rejoices” invites us to experience that transformation together through music: from noise toward peace, from division toward communion, and from weariness toward hope.
Experience the Festival
Come hear treasured carols alongside compelling music old and new, join your voice with ours in song, and experience Mees Hall transformed by one of Capital University’s most enduring traditions.
Whether the season finds you joyful, searching, burdened, hopeful—or simply weary—we invite you to hush the noise and hear the angels sing.
Come, weary world. Rejoice.
Performances
Thursday, December 3, 2026 — 7:00 p.m.
Friday, December 4, 2026 — 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 5, 2026 — 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 6, 2026 — 3:30 p.m.
General Questions
If possible, please contact us by email (christmasfestival@capital.edu). Otherwise, you call (614) 236-6474 during 9:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday.
No, at this time, we are not planning to livestream the Christmas Festival concerts.
Yes. CD recordings of previous Christmas Festivals may be purchased after every concert or by calling 614-236-6116.
Please see our map of on-campus parking (PDF) for details.
The largest and closest parking area available (F7 on the map) is across the street at the Trinity Lutheran Seminary parking lot, just past the intersection of College Avenue and Main Street.
Another large parking area (F3 on the map) with several handicap parking spaces may be found just past Mound Street on College Avenue.
If you are driving south on College Avenue from East Main Street, The Trinity Seminary Lot (F7) will be on your right, and lot F3 will be on your left.
Yes, absolutely! The drop-off is adjacent to Huber-Spielman Hall, near the H2 designation on the map of on-campus parking (PDF).
Tickets & Ticketing Questions
The tickets for Capital University’s Christmas Festival will go on sale on October 15.
No, you are welcome to purchase however many tickets you and your group need.
Yes, all ticket sales will be available through an online system. Please visit www.capital.edu/christmasfestival to purchase your tickets. If you require further assistance to complete your purchase, please call (614) 236-6474 at anytime between 9:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday.
Due to the length of the concert, we welcome children age 6 and older to the Christmas Festival performances.
Electronic tickets will be sent to the email address provided at the time of checkout. Please ensure that your inbox is able to accept incoming messages, and be sure to check junk and spam folders if you do not receive your tickets in an email after you make your purchase. You may email christmasfestival@capital.edu if you need assistance or special accommodations.
Tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded. If you wish to return tickets you cannot use, please email christmasfestival@capital.edu or call (614) 236-6474 as soon as possible. Unused tickets may also be turned in to the Mees Hall ticket office up to one hour prior to each performance.
Please send an email to christmasfestival@capital.edu or call (614) 236-6474 and provide us with the name of the ticket purchaser.
Yes. They can also be printed prior to your arrival and scanned at the door.
Performance Questions
The doors open 30 minutes prior to the start of each performance: at 6:30pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and at 3:00pm on Sunday afternoon.
The performances are less than two hours long. There will be no intermission.
Yes. Please arrive early since restroom lines can be long. They are in the hallway between Mees Hall lobby and Huntington Recital Hall lobby.
Yes, there are handrails. The stairs are shallow (about 6” high). Please note that there are no handrails in the balcony area.