24 Dec 2025
Much-loved St Albans Christmas tradition Carols till Closing has featured in the pages of national newspaper The Times.
The annual event, which has been running for 13 years, sees Father Richard Watson, vicar of St Saviour’s Church, lead an ensemble of carol singers around various local pubs on a nightly basis in the run-up to Christmas, raising awareness for the Save St Albans Pubs campaign.
This year’s venues included The Boot, The White Lion, The Verulam, The Six Bells, The Mermaid, The Great Northern, The White Hart Tap, The Mad Squirrel Tap and The Lower Red Lion, before wrapping things up at Ye Olde Fighting Cocks.
Apart from carols and other festive singalongs, there is even the opportunity to belt out Christmas Number One A Fairytale of New York.
Father Richard said he was surprised to receive national media coverage after running the event for so long.
“I guess I’ve always been focused on the local, so hadn’t imagined there would be any interest by the national press. Lots of CofE parishes sing carols in their pubs, and I know a good many who have started doing so having seen how popular Carols till Closing has become.
“There’s always a media slot before Christmas for the grumpy vicar who spoils Christmas by saying the wrong things about Santa, and I guess I’ve fallen into that gap this year but with a more positive spin!
“Having said that there is something different about Carols till Closing. It’s something to do with the energy and pace of the evenings and the fact that it’s cheeky, rather than churchy.”
He explained how the event originally came about: “Well it was for one night only in The Boot in its first year.
“That went so well the following year we added The White Hart Tap and Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, and it kept on growing from there to be the festive monster it has become.
“There are at least another five or six venues that would like to host, and approaches from pubs in London and even further afield, which is amazing.
“But it belongs to St Albans, and to Save St Albans Pubs in particular.
“It’s lovely that so many people think of it as a St Albans tradition, but no, I didn’t really see that coming!”
He revealed his favourite aspects of running the singalong: “Without a doubt the highlight is always the conversations I have with people on each of the nights, and afterwards.
“One person in the early days called me over in a ‘beer-break’ and told me that because of his family situation, Carols till Closing was the only thing he ever did for Christmas and that it meant so much to him.
“Then this year a young woman said ‘You won’t remember me but you did my dad’s funeral not long after you arrived in St Albans. That meant so much to me and my family’.
“I’d never have recognised her, but I did remember her family, and it’s a huge privilege in my role as a parish priest to bump into people again at different points in life’s journey.”
So given the layout of the page in The Times, is he pleased to get higher billing than pop legend Kylie Minogue?
“I definitely didn’t see that coming, but the three-quarter page feature in The Times pushed Kylie’s No1 single and the heir to the throne ‘below the fold’ in old newsprint speak!
“I can’t see my gold sequined jacket being exhibited at the V&A like her hotpants. But stranger things have happened!”
