Talk to the thousands in attendance of the Candlelight Ceremony at Disneyland on the first weekend of December and many will say that Candlelight is the start of their Christmas season. Every year as the DAPs Magic team waits for this special event similar sentiments are heard. For many also, the Candlelight Ceremony is a yearly tradition that they make the trek to Disneyland for. For some this is a tradition that goes back a few years, for others the tradition spans decades. The Candlelight Ceremony at Disneyland is a Disney tradition that dates reaches six decades. A tradition started by Walt Disney himself, it now continues on decades later with a message of love and hope.
Origins of the Candlelight Ceremony at Disneyland
The origins of the Candlelight Ceremony dates back to the very first Christmas at Disneyland. Under the direction of Dr. Charles C. Hirt, 12 Dickens carolers sang the music of the season to Disney guests. Walt Disney was friends with Dr. Hirt of the University of Southern California who recounted, “I trained the Disneyland carolers,” in a 1993 interview. “This included teaching the singers how to respond to people in the Park. For example, if a little girl walked up to one of the singers, that caroler would sing directly to that child.” For the opening afternoon of this holiday tradition, the Dickens Carolers and a 300-member massed chorus made up of visiting choirs stood together on the Main Street Train Station steps and sang Christmas carols accompanied by visiting school bands.
The Dickens carolers would perform around the park and special guest choirs were invited to perform daily at the Main Street,. USA bandstand. For the second season, the bandstand was renamed the “Christmas Bowl.” By the time this happened, the bandstand was re-located in Magnolia Park area of Adventureland.
1956 also brought the first mass choir to Disneyland. Hirt directed the choir on the steps of the Main Street, USA Station. The choir was accompanied by the Disneyland Band. The following year, this became the Christmas Around the World Parade. The parade began at Sleeping Beauty Castle and choirs processed into the plaza where they were supposed to circle up for the performance. However, due to crowd size this ended up not being practical and the choir performed with the Disneyland Band as they fit instead. The Christmas Around the World Parade would continue through 1964 and then return in 1980-1984. It featured both local choral groups and ethnic costumes from around the world.
The popularity of the performance in the plaza led to Dr. Hirt suggesting to Disney management that a larger choral performance would be well received by Disney guests. This led to the first Candlelight in December of 1958. It took place in the evening and was comprised of 16 choirs and the Dickens singers. The ceremony began with a procession down Main Street, USA to the plaza where the ceremony was performed with Dickens carolers up on a balcony on Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Hirt remembered, “When we first did the ceremony in 1958, the carolers all gathered around the flagpole in Town Square. It was a beautiful ceremony, but we made one mistake: it was difficult for people to see since the singers were all in a circle with me in the center conducting. So the next year, bleachers were constructed adjacent to the Train Station so that the carolers were facing the spectators on Main Street.”
Candlelight – The Building of a Tradition
After the success of Candlelight the first year and the lessons learned from it, bleachers were built next to the Main Street, USA Station so that it would be easier for people to watch the performance. In 1959, these bleachers were filled with 2,574 singers making it the largest choir to perform in the Candlelight Ceremony at Disneyland. The Candlelight Ceremony became closer to what is known and loved today in 1960 when a stage was built on the front of the Main Street, USA Station. With this came the “living Christmas tree.” It originally was made up of the Western High School A’Capella Choir. This choir continued to make up the “living Christmas tree” until 1981 when its conductor retired. The following year, the Disney Employee Choir filled the tree. They have continued to do so ever since.
Around this time the celebrity narrators were added to the program to read portions of the Christmas story between the beloved hymns. The first narrator for the Candlelight Ceremony was Dennis Morgan. He would continue to do this yearly until 1964. In 1965 Dick Van Dyke narrated as part of the promotion for Mary Poppins. He would return decades later to narrate again in 2005 and again in 2012. Other celebrities joined this tradition that included Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Charlston Heston, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and even James Earl Jones to name a few. “Cary Grant and Rock Hudson both wanted to narrate the ceremony again and again and they did it for free!” Hirt remembered.
Dr. Charles C. Hirt would continue to lead the Candlelight Ceremony for two nights every December for the next 25 years. For the most part, two nights of performances have continued to be the tradition. This was changed for one year in 2012 when the Candlelight Ceremony was presented December 1st through the 20th. The following year it returned to the tradition of being presented for two nights. Dr. Hirt also helped continue this tradition at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971. In 1993 the ceremony was moved to Epcot where it remains to this day.
The Candlelight Ceremony
Through the years, the Candlelight Ceremony has been polished and refined. However, the main program progression remains much the same. It tells the story of the first Christmas through music and narration by a narrator, mass choir, handbells, soloists, and orchestra.
During the 1970s, the second Disneyland Band director Jim Christensen worked to insure there would be consistency in the actual programming and musical arrangement for the Candlelight Ceremony on both coasts. Christensen had worked both with the University of Wisconsin Marching Band and also in television. He utilized these talents to polish the ceremony. “What we’ve done is to add a more professional look to it,” Christensen is quoted as saying in 1978.
Because of the efforts of people like Dr. Hirt and Christensen, the Candlelight Ceremony continues to tell the story of the original Christmas and touch the hearts of thousands each year. Much of the music and narration remains the same from year to year. On occasion the narration is changed or a song is added. In recent years the Candlelight Carol was removed in favor of Away in a Manger in 2015. In 2014 the poem One Solitary Life was also removed from the ceremony. Many in attendance will not recognize any difference. Those with a sharp memory and good earl will notice subtle variances. In 2021, the Candlelight Carol replaced Away in a Manger. This came as Candlelight only included adults as part of the safety protocols of Disneyland after the pandemic.
Here is a list of music currently included in the Candlelight Ceremony:
Candlelight Processional Songs (2021):
- Deck the Halls
- O Little Town of Bethlehem
- O Come All Ye Faithful
- O Come, O Come Emmanuel
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
- Here We Come A Caroling
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Candlelight Ceremony Songs (2021):
- Sing Praise to Him, Our Lord
- The First Noel
- Candlelight Carol
- He is Born
- Angels We Have Heard on High
- What Child is This
- We Three Kings
- Sing Noel
- Silent Night
- Joy to the World
- Hallelujah Chorus
The Candlelight Ceremony is currently conducted by Nancy Sulahian. She has been directing the Candlelight Ceremony for several years now.
Candlelight Narrators
Every year at Disneyland as the Christmas season nears, Disney fans begin speculating about who will be the celebrity narrator for the Candlelight Ceremony. Some years, the narrator(s) has been announced ahead of time. Often, the narrator is not announced. Chris Hemsworth is a prime example of the narrator being kept a secret. Until the mic check before the first Candlelight Ceremony performance for 2017, the identity of the narrator was unknown. For many in attendance on that Saturday afternoon the speculation was that Star Wars actor Mark Hamill would be the narrator. This was soon left behind as people cheered for Hemsworth as he climbed the stairs of the podium for the mic check. Hemsworth is just one of many incredible narrators through the years. Here is a list of all of the Candlelight Ceremony narrators at Disneyland:
- Dennis Morgan (1961-1964)
- Dick Van Dyke(1965) (Walt’s last Candlelight ceremony)
- Dennis Morgan (1966)
- Gregory Peck & Dean Jones (1967)
- Henry Fonda & Rock Hudson(1968)
- Gary Grant (1969)
- Charlton Heston & Dean Jones (1970)
- John Wayne (1971)
- Rock Hudson (1972)
- Cary Grant (1973-1974)
- Jimmy Stewart (1975)
- Rock Hudson (1976)
- Buddy Ebsen & Ed Asner(1977)
- Cary Grant (1978)
- Elliot Gould & Joseph Cotton (1979)
- Michael Landon (1980)
- Ed Asner & Jason Robards(1981)
- Pat and Shirley Boone (1982)
- Darren McGavin (1983)
- Joseph Campanella (1984)
- Kevin Dobson (1985)
- Craig T. Nelson & Elliot Gould (1986)
- Howard Keel (1987):
- Joseph Campanella (1988)
- John Forsythe (1989)
- James Earl Jones (1990)
- Robert Urich (1991)
- George Kennedy (1992)
- Michael York (1993)
- Peter Graves (1994)
- David Ogden Stiers (1995)
- Mary Hart (1996)
- Joseph Campanella (1997)
- Richard Crenna & Edward James Olmos (1998)
- Olympia Dukakis (1999)
- John Tesh & Barry Bostwick (2000)
- David Ogden Stiers (2001)
- Mickey Rooney & Stephen Collins (2002)
- Louis Gossett, Jr. & Marie Osmond (2003)
- Marie Osmond (2004)
- Dick Van Dyke (2005)
- Andy Garcia & Hector Elizondo (2006)
- Jane Seymour (2007)
- John Stamos (2008)
- Jon Voight (2009)
- Tom Skerritt (2010)
- Gary Sinise (2011):
- Dec. 1-2, 2012: Dennis Haysbert
- Dec. 3-5, 2012: Kurt Russell
- Dec. 6-8, 2012: Edward James Olmos
- Dec. 9-11, 2012: Lou Diamond Phillips
- Dec. 12-13, 2012: Dick Van Dyke
- Dec. 14, 2012: Dennis Haysbert
- Dec. 15-16, 2012: Patricia Heaton
- Dec. 17-19, 2012: Molly Ringwald
- Dec. 20, 2012: John Stamos
- Kurt Russell & Blair Underwood (2013)
- Beau Bridges (2014)
- Geena Davis & Lana Parilla (2015)
- Gennifer Goodwin (2016)
- Chris Hemsworth (2017)
- Chris Pratt (2018)
- Lin-Manuel Miranda (2019)
- Sterling K. Brown (2021)
- Viola Davis (2022)
Continuing Legacy of the Candlelight Ceremony
The Candlelight Ceremony at the Disneyland Resort continues a legacy that began with the beginning of Disneyland itself. It continues to help many kick off their Christmas celebration. The ceremony shares a beautiful message of love and hope that came through the birth of the baby in the manger. People of all backgrounds and beliefs come together for two nights of celebrating the gift of love. It’s not just about the story being told but about the way it is told. The combination of this creates a magical feeling that truly incapsulates that Christmas magic and brings people together. And really, isn’t that what Christmas is supposed to be about?
The Candlelight Ceremony has many different meanings and have brought many different memories to different people throughout the years. Let us know your favorite memories of the Candlelight Ceremony in the comments below. Share also your favorite narrator in the comments below. Finally, who would you like to see narrate the Candlelight Ceremony at Disneyland? Merry Christmas everyone!
Candlelight Processional News
The Candlelight Processional at both Disneyland and EPCOT will have occasional updates. Most of these updates will come from Walt Disney World Resort’s version of the Candlelight Processional as it is offered more often than the version at the Disneyland Resort. Check back here for news on either version of the Candlelight Processional.
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