The Candlelight Processional is an annual live Christmas event held at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, and Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The show uses a live orchestra, choir, and narration to tell the story of Jesus' birth and the events of "the first Christmas."

Walt Disney created the event, and it began in 1958. It has become a yearly holiday tradition for both parks. The processional is performed for two nights in December at Disneyland and throughout the entire month of December at Epcot.

Event history

In 1955, Walt Disney and Disneyland’s entertainment director, Tommy Walker, asked Dr. Charles C. Hirt, director of choral music at the USC Thornton School of Music, to help hire and train traditional Christmas carolers for the park’s holiday events. Guest choirs and performing groups also performed near Sleeping Beauty Castle, which was renamed the Christmas Bowl.

On the first day of Disneyland’s Christmas festivities in 1955, carolers, guest choirs, and school bands formed a 300-person choir on the steps of the Main Street Station. This choir returned in 1956, accompanied by the Disneyland Band. In 1957, guest choirs joined the Christmas Around the World Parade, walking from the castle to the Central Plaza (or Hub).

The carolers and choirs were popular with guests. Dr. Hirt suggested a candlelight procession and ceremony for the park, and Walt Disney agreed. The first Candlelight Procession happened in 1958. Choirs performed near the Hub, with Hirt conducting in the center. However, the ceremony was hard for the audience to see from outside the circle.

In 1960, the ceremony moved back to Town Square, and bleachers were built on Main Street Station to create a temporary stage. A “living Christmas tree” was created by Western High School choral director Alexander Encheff, whose a cappella choir students stood on tree risers. Encheff and the tree had been part of the previous two Candlelight events near Sleeping Beauty Castle.

In 1960, a celebrity narrator was added to read the Nativity story from the Bible. Actor Dennis Morgan was the first narrator, starting a tradition of people from stage, screen, and sports participating. Walt Disney supported the event until his death in 1966, attending the last procession in December 1965 with Dick Van Dyke as narrator. The event was by invitation only, honoring local officials.

Dr. Hirt conducted the Candlelight ceremony until his retirement in 1981, sharing duties with other music directors like James Christensen. Sheldon Disrud, director of choral music at Fullerton College, conducted and wrote music for the procession in the 1980s. Nancy Sulahian, currently director of choral music at Caltech, has most recently conducted the Disneyland version.

In 1981, Alexander Encheff retired, and the living Christmas tree was taken over by the newly formed Disney Employee Choir the following year. This group, made up of volunteer employees from The Walt Disney Company, still performs as the living Christmas tree today.

In 1998, the Candlelight Procession moved to the Fantasyland Theatre at the northern edge of the park. It stayed there for four seasons before returning to Main Street Station in 2003.

Since its start, the Candlelight Procession was held over a weekend during the holiday season with no more than two shows each night. In 2012, the park tried a multi-day format with dining packages, offering 20 nights of two shows each. Many shows were canceled due to bad weather, and tickets were given free of charge by lottery to Annual Passholders. The event returned to its traditional two-night schedule the next year.

In 2015, the Disney Employee Choir recorded new music to accompany the procession down Main Street.

Walt Disney World opened in October 1971, and the Candlelight Procession was moved to the Magic Kingdom. Actor Rock Hudson was the first narrator, and Frederick Fennell conducted the Candlelight Orchestra. The event began in front of Cinderella Castle and later alternated with Main Street Station, similar to the Disneyland version.

By the 1990s, the event at Walt Disney World was held over two days each holiday season, like Disneyland. In 1994, it moved to Epcot at the America Gardens Theatre in The American Adventure pavilion to accommodate more people. James Earl Jones was the last narrator at Magic Kingdom, and Phylicia Rashad became the first narrator for the Epcot version.

The show has been performed on both coasts annually, except in 2020 when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Derric Johnson became involved in the Candlelight Processional in the 1980s. He previously led Re-Generation, a professional a cappella group that performed at the Magic Kingdom in the 1970s. The group later became the Voices of Liberty when Epcot opened in 1982. Johnson composed custom holiday songs, some of which were recorded for the Re-Generation Christmas album Christmas in Velvet.

In 2022, Dr. John V. Sinclair, director of music at Rollins College, was honored for conducting over 1,000 performances of the Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.

Event format

Each performance includes a guest narrator, usually a famous person who has worked with The Walt Disney Company before. At Disneyland, the narrator is not revealed until the first performance day, with two shows each evening for two nights. Walt Disney World shares their narrator list in advance so guests can plan their trips. Special dining packages are available to ensure seating at the America Gardens Theatre in the American pavilion at EPCOT.

The term "processional" means the choir members enter one by one, wearing traditional robes and holding candles. "Processing" is the act of walking onto the stage, and "recessing" is the act of walking off the stage. Performers are arranged in order of height and voice type (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass).

The event is part of the seasonal entertainment at EPCOT during the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays. At Disneyland, the event takes place on Main Street, U.S.A., with a stage set near the train station in Town Square. At EPCOT, the Voices of Liberty are featured singers and soloists in the show.

The EPCOT version’s main song is "Rejoice with Exceeding Great Joy," written by Lanny Wolfe. The program includes songs in different languages, such as "Gesù bambino" (Italian), "Stille Nacht" (German and Spanish), "What Child Is This?" (Spanish), and "Il est né, le divin Enfant" (French).

The songs are specially written and arranged for Disney to tell the story of the Nativity, performed by a large orchestra. For many years, the poem "One Solitary Life" by James Allan Francis was read by the narrator, but this was removed starting in the 2013 season.

Disneyland musicians work under agreements with the Orange County Musicians Union, Local 7. Musicians in Florida are part of the Central Florida Local 389 chapter of the American Federation of Musicians. The Disneyland version includes a handbell choir and trumpet fanfares. The narrator tells the story in short parts mixed with songs. The show has remained mostly the same each year but is occasionally updated. It uses guest choirs, mostly youth choirs called a mass choir. The EPCOT show is performed three times each night, with youth choirs in the first show and Disney Cast Members in the following shows.

Disney Cast Members (employees) are chosen through auditions held earlier in the year, with weekly rehearsals before the performances. Guest choirs also audition and are selected to perform, often traveling from across the country, though many are local school choirs near the parks.

The event allows young performers to take part in a large-scale professional setting, supported by Disney Imagination Campus. One of the longest-running choirs at Disney World since the 1970s was Seminole High School from Sanford, Florida, led by Bob Maguire.

EPCOT Candlelight Processional narrators (1994–present)

• 1994 : Robert Guillaume , Robert Urich , Phylicia Rashad
• 1995 : Peter Graves , Phylicia Rashad, Louis Gossett Jr. , Billy Dee Williams , Erik Estrada , E.G. Marshall
• 1996 : Louis Gossett Jr., Buzz Aldrin , Barbara Eden , Sandi Patty , Ed Asner , Tara Holland , David Ogden Stiers , Joseph Marcell
• 1997 : Paula Zahn , George Kennedy , Mary Hart , Angie Dickinson , Louis Gossett Jr., Pat Morita , Robert Urich, Sandi Patty, Dr. Bobby Jones
• 1998 : Phylicia Rashad, Charles Kimbrough , Brian Dennehy , George Hamilton , Bruce Davison , James McDaniel , Joseph Marcell, Louis Gossett Jr., Deidre Hall , George Kennedy, Nicole Johnson , Art Garfunkel
• 1999 : Alfre Woodard , Charles Kimbrough, Angela Bassett , Brian Dennehy, Robby Benson , James Avery , Edward James Olmos , James McDaniel, Andy Garcia , Sandi Patty, David Ogden Stiers
• 2000 : Jodi Benson , Angela Bassett, Jon Secada , James Avery, Joe Mantegna , Ben Vereen , Ed Begley Jr. , Phylicia Rashad, Robby Benson, Leeza Gibbons , Gary Sinise , LeVar Burton
• 2001 : James Avery, Marlee Matlin , Robby Benson, Wayne Brady , Phylicia Rashad, Story Musgrave , Alfre Woodard, Blair Underwood , Gary Sinise, LeVar Burton
• 2002 : John Tesh , Marlee Matlin, James Avery, Yolanda Adams , David Hartman , Collin Raye , Blair Underwood, Gary Sinise, Jodi Benson
• 2003 : Andy Garcia, Ben Vereen, Rita Moreno , Ericka Dunlap , David Ogden Stiers, Steven Curtis Chapman , Edward James Olmos, Sandi Patty, Robby Benson, Gary Sinise
• 2004 : Rita Moreno, Heather Headley , Kirk Franklin , Jim Caviezel , Marlee Matlin, Joshua Morrow , Eartha Kitt , Steven Curtis Chapman, Edward James Olmos, Gary Sinise, LeVar Burton
• 2005 : Rita Moreno, Phil Donahue , Haley Joel Osment , Cicely Tyson , Jaci Velasquez , Eartha Kitt, Lou Diamond Phillips , Harry Hamlin , Marlee Matlin, Gary Sinise, Steven Curtis Chapman, John Stamos
• 2006 : Rita Moreno, Marie Osmond , Steven Curtis Chapman, Kirk Cameron , Gary Sinise, Marlee Matlin, Brian Dennehy, Maureen McGovern , Mario Lopez , Cuba Gooding Jr.
• Neil Patrick Harris has narrated at Walt Disney World many times. 2007 : Andie MacDowell , Kirk Cameron, Monique Coleman , Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera , Neil Patrick Harris , Steven Curtis Chapman, Gary Sinise, John O'Hurley , Edward James Olmos, David Robinson , Dennis Franz
• 2008 : John O'Hurley, Neil Patrick Harris, Brian Stokes Mitchell , Virginia Madsen , Marlee Matlin, Monique Coleman, Abigail Breslin , Chita Rivera, Angela Bassett, Courtney B. Vance , Steven Curtis Chapman, Edward James Olmos
• 2009 : Isabella Rossellini , John O’Hurley, Steven Curtis Chapman, Anika Noni Rose , Andy Garcia, Abigail Breslin, Brian Dennehy, Edward James Olmos, Angela Bassett, Courtney B. Vance, Whoopi Goldberg , Chita Rivera

• 2010 : Isabella Rossellini, John O'Hurley, Corbin Bernsen , Susan Lucci , Jodi Benson, Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Curtis Chapman, Thomas Gibson , Trace Adkins , Brad Garrett , Marlee Matlin, Edward James Olmos
• 2011 : Mira Sorvino , Geena Davis , Isabella Rossellini, Neil Patrick Harris, Chita Rivera, Marlee Matlin, Blair Underwood, Trace Adkins, Edward James Olmos, Susan Lucci, Michael W. Smith
• 2012 : Geena Davis, Lea Salonga , Jodi Benson, Neil Patrick Harris, Whoopi Goldberg, Blair Underwood, James Denton , Alfre Woodard, Amy Grant , Gary Sinise, Trace Adkins, Andy Garcia, Marlee Matlin
• 2013 : Gary Sinise, Neil Patrick Harris, Ashley Judd , Whoopi Goldberg, Sigourney Weaver , Dennis Haysbert , James Denton , Edward James Olmos, Trace Adkins, Steven Curtis Chapman, Blair Underwood, Amy Grant
• 2014 : Jodi Benson, Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff , Whoopi Goldberg, LeVar Burton, Edward James Olmos, Joe Morton , Chita Rivera, Ana Gasteyer , Marlee Matlin, Isabella Rossellini, Blair Underwood, Steven Curtis Chapman
• 2015 : Gary Sinise, Neil Patrick Harris, Whoopi Goldberg, Joe Morton, Ana Gasteyer, Meredith Viera , America Ferrera , Chandra Wilson , Daniel Dae Kim , Edward James Olmos, Blair Underwood, Amy Grant
• 2016 : Steven Curtis Chapman, Neil Patrick Harris, Whoopi Goldberg, Edward James Olmos, Anthony Mackie , Robby Benson, Meredith Viera, Jim Caviezel, Joe Morton, Ming-Na Wen , Cal Ripken Jr. , Jodi Benson

• 2017 : Laurie Hernandez, Matt Bomer , Ana Gasteyer, Whoopi Goldberg, Pat Sajak , Jodi Benson, Jaci Velasquez , Warwick Davis , Chandra Wilson, Kurt Russell , CCH Pounder , Trace Adkins, Neil Patrick Harris
• 2018 : Ch

Audio recordings

The EPCOT Candlelight Processional was first recorded and made available in 1997, with Louis Gossett Jr. as narrator. In 1999, it was recorded once more and made available on cassette and CD from Walt Disney Records, with Phylicia Rashad as narrator.

Filmed performances

In 1987, the Disneyland Candlelight Processional was recorded and released on VHS, with Howard Keel as narrator. This performance also aired on The Disney Channel. The performance was conducted by Sheldon Disrud. In 2018, the EPCOT Candlelight Processional was live-streamed on YouTube via the official Disney Parks channel, with Neil Patrick Harris as narrator.