December 19, 2026 at 1:00 pm

Holiday Spectacular

Mainstage Concert

Berkeley — Matinee

Zellerbach Hall
101 Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720
Zellerbach Hall · Berkeley

Holiday Spectacular

About

Let your spirits soar with music, laughter, and a healthy dose of holiday sparkle! Whether you’re humming along to “Sleigh Ride,” singing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” or grooving to holiday hits from Elton John, Ariana Grande, and Celine Dion, SFGMC has your soundtrack to the season covered. Heartfelt, hilarious, and fabulously festive, these holiday performances bring families, friends, and chosen family together for a tradition that shines brighter every year.

SFGMC’s holiday concerts have brought people together since 1978. In 1990, the Chorus introduced its beloved Christmas Eve tradition, Home for the Holidays, at the Castro Theatre. Created as a welcoming place for people who had nowhere else to gather, these concerts offered comfort, connection, and chosen family during the AIDS crisis. That spirit continues today through joyful music, laughter, and community.

Holiday Spectacular is a welcoming, family-friendly experience for longtime fans and first-time concertgoers alike. No familiarity with choral music is needed. The full Holiday Spectacular production runs approximately two hours, including intermission. The Christmas Eve Home for the Holidays performances offer a shorter, approximately 65-minute version of the celebration.

A Taste of Holiday Spectacular

Get a sense of the music, sparkle and community through photos and video from past holiday performances.

Photos from 2025

Photos by Stefan Cohen · 2025 Holiday Spectacular

Explore our 2025 Home for the Holidays program for a glimpse of a past performance. Songs, performers, and production details may differ for this year.

Watch: Where Winter Rests in Sleep

Revisit SFGMC’s Holiday Spectacular 2023 performance at Green Music Center. Composer Alessio Tranchell won the Chorus’s second annual composition competition with this work. This archive performance offers a taste of the holiday tradition; it is not the announced 2026 program.

Reviews

Plan Your Visit

  • Arrival: Allow about 45 minutes before showtime for parking and walking to the hall. Check your ticket for doors and seating times.
  • Accessibility: Ramp entrances, wheelchair seating and accessible restrooms are available. The elevator serves orchestra and mezzanine levels.
  • Children: Everyone needs a ticket, regardless of age. Check your show’s age recommendations.
  • Late seating: May be delayed until a suitable break. Follow Audience Services instructions.
  • Bags: Bring a bag that fits under your seat or on your lap; larger items must be checked. Bags may be searched.

  • Transit: Downtown Berkeley BART is approximately a 10–15-minute walk away; AC Transit also serves campus.
  • Parking: RSF and Telegraph-Channing garages are about a five-minute walk away. Lower Sproul often has reserved parking; do not rely on availability.
  • Drop-off: Use Bancroft Way between Telegraph Avenue and Dana Street. For an accessible curb, use the nearby crosswalk areas.

Avoid GPS routes through campus. Directions, parking map & alerts

  • Your ticket: Use the ticket and check-in instructions from your event’s ticket seller.
  • Listening assistance: Free devices are available from Audience Services, subject to availability. Bring government-issued ID for the deposit.
  • Safety: Weapons and disruptive noisemakers are prohibited. Follow staff instructions.

Accessibility details · Venue FAQs

Zellerbach Hall

101 Zellerbach Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720

Visit the Zellerbach Hall venue website

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More Dates for This Concert

Can’t make this performance? Choose another date below.

Holiday Spectacular Holiday Spectacular Dec 4, 5, 19, 20 & 24, 2026 · Bay Area

Holiday Spectacular

You’re viewing: Sat, Dec 19, 2026 · 1:00 pm
Zellerbach Hall · Berkeley

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Holiday Spectacular

Berkeley · Matinee
Buy Tickets
Season 49 · Rising

Thank you
Season Sponsors

Our Season 49 sponsors bring our music to life, making unforgettable performances possible and helping us connect, uplift and inspire through song.

Main Stage Supporting Sponsors
Janet Cluff
Steve Gallagher/Coldwell Banker
Butch Merideth + Ivan Capanzana
Chris Stevenson
‘HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS’ Presenting Sponsor
Terrence D. Chan + Edward Sell

in memory of Pansy L. Chan

Media Sponsor
SF Bay Times