Pictures: Disneyland Candlelight Ceremony 2024

December 8, 2024 Jason @disneygeek.com Candlelight, Disneyland

Today I attended the 5:30pm Candlelight Ceremony at Disneyland. The event is held two nights a year with two performances (5:30 and 7:45). In contrast to Walt Disney World the ceremony is three times nightly (5:00, 6:45 and 8:15 p.m.) at Epcot. The guest narrator this year is Kathryn Hahn.

Candlelight History
The Candlelight Processional has been a tradition at Disneyland since 1958. The show is approximately an hour and features an orchestra, choir, solo performers, and a guest narrator. The story of Christmas is read and Christmas songs are performed between segments.

It was started as a request of Walt Disney to Dr. Charles Hirt (a friend and Chairman of the Choral Music Department at the University of Southern California) at Disneyland. In 1971 when the Magic Kingdom opened in Walt Disney World the tradition started on Main Street as well. Traditionally the ceremony ran one weekend a year and only a couple of shows per evening. In 1993 the Walt Disney World show moved to EPCOT where it has been since and over the years continued to add nights. The Disneyland version tried out the Fantasyland Theater in 1998 but returned to Main Street in 1999. At Walt Disney World they run three shows a night most nights from around Thanksgiving through Christmas. At Disneyland in 2012 they expanded to run for 20 nights from December 1st through 20th. In 2013 the show returned to its traditional format of two nights (two shows a night) on the West coast.

Video Clips from the 2024 5:30pm Disneyland Candlelight Ceremony –

Pictures from the 2024 Disneyland Candlelight Ceremony –

Previous year’s:

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