Things to do in December 2025

Your curated guide to December's arts and culture in Liverpool, Manchester and across the North West

Christmas gatherings of my childhood were filled with folk music - actually pretty much every gathering of my younger years had this soundtrack to it, but there was something extra special about it in December. My parents’ friends seem never to go anywhere without at least one musical instrument with them - my Dad actually had a special flight-safe guitar case specifically for holidays - so they could sit and play music together wherever they ended up. In my goal to recapture what makes Christmas special for me personally this year, it made sense to incorporate some festive folk music into our celebrations.

Eliza Carthy and Jon Boden have been touring their Wassail show around the UK for a number of years now, and this time it was the turn of The Tung in Liverpool to welcome the duo on a stage decorated with sparkling Christmas trees. In a warm-hearted performance peppered with self-confessed Dad jokes, their songs all came with stories - of unexpected theories of the Three Kings relics visiting Humberside, of a cheeky wren winning a competition to find the King of the Birds, and of Sheffield pubs packed with carollers. From the silly (I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas) to the sublime (Jean Ritchie’s Winter Grace), it invited us to imagine a festive season centring on family, good food and, of course, shared music.

Like the Philharmonic Hall’s Music Room, The Tung is a great venue for packing in a decent sized audience for smaller acts, while preserving an intimate atmosphere. Also this December, it will be hosting The Choir with No Name, an organisation that builds singing communities with people impacted by homelessness and marginalisation around the UK, and a Festive Fanfare with the Liverpool Welsh Choral.

The Choir with No Name

This month’s what’s on guide is a bit different to usual, partly because theatres and galleries are out of their usual routine but also as I wanted to make this an unashamedly festival edition. So instead, here are 15 shows, exhibitions, concerts and events to get you into the Christmas spirit. I have avoided including pantos as there are so many of them - and so far I haven’t been to any this year (putting that right this afternoon) - that I would feel uncomfortable choosing which ones to highlight.

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