According to the New York Times the St. Olaf Christmas Festival is "one of the ten Christmas events in the country not to be missed," while the Los Angeles Times places it among the worldıs top 30 events and festivals in December.

Former religion professor Joseph M. Shaw has documented the emergence of St. Olafıs popular tradition in his book titled The St. Olaf Choir. Shaw traces the festival from its beginning stages to what it has become today.

According to Shaw, the first St. Olaf Christmas Festival was given by the St. Olaf Choral Union on Dec. 17, 1912 in Hoyme Memorial Chapel. Looking back to old Manitou Messenger articles, nowhere does it mention the participation of the St. Olaf choir in the first event. It is likely many of the choir members were also members of the Choral Union. Three numbers were sung in Norwegian at the beginning of the program, while the song "O Lord God to thee be praise" ended the event.

The St. Olaf Choir was not mentioned in the concertıs program until 1915, while in 1920, it was listed along with the Choral Union. During the 1920 performance, audience participation was added to the concert. "Joy to the World," and "Holy Night, Peaceful Night," were the first two songs sung by both the choir and the audience. Audience participation was not a feature of earlier programs, yet became prominent in the late 1920ıs.

The location of the concert moved from Hoyme Memorial Chapel in 1922 to the gymnasium after a fire destroyed the chapel. Between the years of 1922 and 1966, the concert resided in the gymnasium, the present day communications/theater building, and then moved to the new Skogland Athletic Center in 1967. Many feared that the move would change the meaning and feel of the concert of the concert. Recently, the replacement of the Skoglund bleachers greatly reduced the number of seats available for each performance but aided in the spectatorsı overall comfort.

In the history of the Christmas Festival, St. Olaf has never encountered a problem filling its seats to maximum occupancy. In 1983 nearly 12,000 spectators came to see the performance despite a blizzard that closed the campus the weekend before. Nearly 1,000 interested people are turned away each year from getting tickets. Richard Nixon, after viewing a re-broadcast of the 1983 performance of "What Child is This?" sent a handwritten letter to the St. Olaf President that read:

Dear Mr. President:
Last night after our staff Christmas reception, I happened to tune into the last half of a program by the St. Olaf College choir and orchestra. It was superb!

In theses ages where there is so much trivial trash on TV it was heartwarming and inspirational to listen to fine music so expertly produced for the television audience. All who were fortunate enough to hear the program are in your debt.

Sincerely,
Richard Nixon

Through time, traditions are formed, most notably the Norwegian feast that is served before the performances. In 1940, the Norwegian feast began with foods such as fruit soup, flote grote, lutefisk, baked square ribs, Norwegian meatballs, lefse, julkake, rosettes and krumkake. The tradition holds today along with another Christmas festival traditions.

The singing of "Beautiful Savoir" at the finale of the performance took years to become a tradition. Originally, a quartet sang "Silent Night," which quickly diminished as "Beautiful Savoir" became more prominent. The English words to "Beautiful Savoir" are a translation of the German "Schonster Herr Jesu" by Joseph A Seiss. The translation was published in Philadelphia in 1873 in the Sunday school book for the use of Evangelical Lutheran Congregations.

The prestige of the Christmas Festival attracts many alumni, faculty and parents to St. Olafıs campus at the beginning of December. The event for many is a wonderful transition into the holiday season. Next year St. Olaf will continue its tradition as it celebrates the 90th Christmas Festival.