For 60 years, the annual Christmas displays at Temple Square have attracted thousands to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City.
On a mild December evening in 1965, Church President David O. McKay spoke to nearly 15,000 gathered on the southeast corner of Temple Square before pushing the button to light nearly 40,000 lights.
“Our minds tonight should be on the Babe of Bethlehem whose coming into the world Christmas morning reminds us all that we each should have in our hearts the love of Christ,” he said (Church News, “Famed ‘Square’ A Yule Fairyland,” Dec. 18, 1965, pp. 8-9).
Since then, the Church has dressed Temple Square in its Christmas finery each December, inviting the world to come and remember “the Babe of Bethlehem.”
Here’s a look at what’s available to visitors for the 2025 Christmas season, along with photos of this year’s displays:
Christmas lights, displays
Although the ongoing Salt Lake Temple renovation has closed some areas, many locations on Temple Square are open and decorated, featuring lights, luminaries, international Nativities and more.
View a map of closures on Temple Square here.
The Conference Center will also feature Christmas-themed large-form artwork throughout the plaza lobby. Tours of the building are also available, except during scheduled events and closures.
- When: Available at all open areas of Temple Square daily from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. beginning Friday, Nov. 28, through Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
Church History Museum
The Church History Museum is hosting a Light the World Giving Machine kiosk in the museum lobby.
As in previous years, the museum will also host a variety of local choir performances in the lower-level auditorium.
On the upper level, in the museum’s Victorian-era drawing room, visitors can enjoy family-friendly Christmas crafts inspired by cultures around the world. This year’s displays include luminaries from Mexico and “parols,” or decorative stars, from the Philippines.
The museum staff enjoys sharing the excitement of the Christmas season with visitors, their family and friends, said Natalie Bodine, events coordinator at the Church History Museum, in a press release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“Together, we celebrate the birth of the Savior by creating traditional crafts from around the world, donating to those in need via the Giving Machine and enjoying beautiful musical performances,” she said.
All Christmas activities are free and open to the public.
- When: Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesdays-Thursdays: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Concerts and events
Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert
Tony Award-winning actor Stephanie J. Block and her husband, Broadway and television star Sebastian Arcelus, will join the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square as the featured guest artists at this year’s Christmas concerts.
“Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus are wonderful, gifted performers,” said Mack Wilberg, the choir’s music director, in an Oct. 24 news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. “It will be a privilege to share the stage with such talented artists as together we celebrate the Savior’s birth during the Christmas season.”
The concert — with the 360-voice choir, 150 instrumentalists in the Orchestra at Temple Square and 32 bell ringers from the Bells at Temple Square, all of whom are volunteers — celebrating the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ, will be held in the Conference Center.
Tickets are free but required for entry. The random selection process is now over, but a standby line in the Tabernacle will open 90 minutes before each concert.
Admission is open to those 8 years and older.
- When: Thursday, Dec. 11, through Saturday, Dec. 13, at 8 p.m.
2024 Christmas concert broadcast
The 2024 Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert featured Broadway’s Ruthie Ann Miles and film and television actor Dennis Haysbert, who shared about the experiences of Charles Mulli, an orphan in Kenya who found Christianity and now helps homeless children in his home country.
The 2024 concert will air on PBS on Dec. 15 and 24 and will also run on BYUtv. The choir is releasing DVD and CD versions of the concert — titled “Hope of the Season: Christmas With The Tabernacle Choir” — and was available beginning Oct. 25.
See the Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas playlist on its YouTube channel for nearly three dozen songs from past Christmas concerts.
For more information, visit TheTabernacleChoir.org.
‘Savior of the World’
The “Savior of the World” production portrays the sacred story of Jesus Christ’s birth, life and Resurrection, including music that testifies of the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
Tickets are required for entry. All have been distributed, but a standby line will be available at a marked location inside the Conference Center plaza-level lobby near the west wall portrait gallery.
- When: Thursday, Nov. 20, through Saturday, Dec. 27, in the Conference Center Theater (excluding Sundays and Mondays).
- Matinees begin at 2 p.m. and evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m.
Nightly concerts, performances
Close to 300 concerts are scheduled between Thanksgiving and Christmas at four venues around Temple Square, including daily performances by schools, missionary and community organizations, as well as various string, flute, guitar and bell groups. Daily performances will be held at the:
- Salt Lake Tabernacle
- Conference Center plaza-level lobby
- Church History Museum
- City Creek Center
