Christmas 2026 · Prague
Christmas church music and midnight Mass in Prague, 2026
In Prague, Christmas has a soundtrack: Jakub Jan Ryba’s Czech Christmas Mass of 1796, the “Rybovka”, which opens with a shepherd’s call of “Hej, mistře!” and is sung in churches, concert halls and even the main railway station every December. Here is the Christmas music we could confirm for 2026 on the churches’, venues’ and Prague City Tourism’s own pages on 12 November 2026.
Updated October 2026
Ryba’s Czech Christmas Mass, from the National Theatre to the station
The pastoral Mass that Jakub Jan Ryba wrote in 1796 tells the Christmas story through the shepherds hurrying to Bethlehem, in Czech, and is as much a part of a Czech Christmas as carp and cukroví. The National Theatre’s Advent concerts give it pride of place: the National Theatre Orchestra and the Kühn Children’s Choir sing it on Sundays 29 November and 6, 13 and 20 December at 11am.
On Christmas Day at 4pm, the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum hears it from the EN ARCHÉ chamber choir, the Česká píseň choir and the Vladimír Sommer Chamber Orchestra under Vojtěch Jouza, with Moravian Christmas pastorales (CZK 300–600). The same afternoon, also at 4pm, Bach-Collegia Praha sings it at St Wenceslas in Smíchov (CZK 250).
The most Czech performance of all is open to anyone who wants to sing or play: on 23 December at 1pm, the 26th Rybovka at the main station fills the north end of the entrance hall of Praha hlavní nádraží with singers, players and listeners. On 21 December at 6pm the Kostelní slavnosti series sings the Mass at St Henry and St Kunhuta, with voluntary admission.
Prague City Tourism: where to hear Ryba’s Mass National Theatre: Advent concert Rudolfinum: Christmas concert Rybovka at the main station
St Nicholas in Malá Strana
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Uoaei1 · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsPrague’s great Baroque church on Malostranské náměstí keeps a full Advent and Christmas calendar, each concert from 5pm to 6pm. Chorus Carolinus sings Czech Advent music on 11 December and Ensemble Guillaume an Advent concert of Bach, Mendelssohn and Michna on 12 December. On Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day, 25 and 26 December, Gaudium Praha and the Piccola orchestra perform Ryba’s Mass under Marek Valášek.
Tickets are CZK 550 for adults and CZK 350 for children aged 10–15, students and over-65s; children under ten go in without charge. The church box office is open daily from 9am to 4.30pm.
Our advice: buy Christmas tickets at the church box office in Advent, when you can also see the church by daylight.
St Nicholas: Christmas concert, 25 December St Nicholas: Christmas concert, 26 December St Nicholas: Advent concert
The magic Rybovka: Ryba with puppets
The director Matěj Forman stages Ryba’s Mass with wooden puppets, painted sets, singers in costume and a starry sky, adding short pieces by Mozart, Handel and Haydn. It plays in the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House on 22 December at 4pm and 7.30pm and on 23 December at 10am, and on Christmas Day at 3pm and 6pm in the Church of St Simon and St Jude, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK under Zdeněk Klauda.
For families, Divadlo Hybernia on Náměstí Republiky gives its own sixty-minute staging, with a live orchestra, projections and English subtitles, on 13 and 23 December at 2pm and 5pm and on 26 December at 2pm.
Our advice: the Municipal House performances are the ones to see with children; book soon.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Jorge Royan · CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe magic Rybovka at the Municipal House The magic Rybovka at St Simon and St Jude Divadlo Hybernia: Czech Christmas Mass
St Vitus Cathedral and midnight Mass
Midnight Mass in St Vitus Cathedral, in the castle above the city, is the great liturgy of a Prague Christmas. When we checked, the cathedral had not yet published its December 2026 programme: its own service calendar says the programme for the month is still being prepared. On Sundays there are Masses at 8.30am and 10am, and the 10am Mass is streamed on katedrala.tv.
Our advice: check the cathedral’s service calendar in early December; for midnight Mass, allow time for the castle security checks and arrive very early.
Christmas in English: St Clement’s
St Clement’s, the Anglican chaplaincy church on Klimentská in the Old Town, holds a Sung Eucharist or Morning Prayer in English every Sunday at 11.15am. Its December 2026 calendar shows only the Sunday services so far: its carol service and Christmas Eve times had not yet been published when we checked.
Our advice: check the church’s calendar in December, or call the chaplaincy on +420 233 310 266.
St Clement’s Prague: December calendar
How to hear it
Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, so the great concerts fall on 25 and 26 December, and the Advent concerts on the weekends before. Concerts in churches and halls are ticketed and often sell out; Masses are open to all, and the most popular fill early. Dress warmly: Prague’s churches are cold in December.
Our advice: if you hear only one performance, make it a Rybovka: at many performances the whole room joins in the closing carol, “Narodil se Kristus Pán”.
Questions and answers
Where can I hear Ryba’s Czech Christmas Mass in Prague in 2026?
At the National Theatre’s Advent concerts (Sundays 29 November to 20 December, 11am), at the main station singalong (23 December, 1pm), in the Municipal House as Matěj Forman’s puppet Rybovka (22–23 December), and on Christmas Day at St Nicholas in Malá Strana (5pm, also 26 December) and the Rudolfinum (4pm).
What time is midnight Mass at St Vitus Cathedral in 2026?
The cathedral had not yet published its December 2026 programme when we checked on 12 November 2026. Its service calendar is updated month by month; check it in early December.
Is there an English carol service in Prague?
St Clement’s Anglican church on Klimentská holds English services every Sunday at 11.15am; its 2026 carol service and Christmas times had not yet been published when we checked.
Dates and times from Prague City Tourism (prague.eu) and the churches’ and venues’ own pages (stnicholas.cz, rudolfinum.cz, katedralasvatehovita.cz, achurchnearyou.com for St Clement’s), checked 12 November 2026. Check before you go.