Dozens gather in Halifax church for Christmas carol singalong

Dozens of people got together at the Fort Massey United Church in downtown Halifax on Thursday to get into the holiday spirit.

Casual Carols has become an annual tradition at the Church. Going into it’s third year, the event invites everyone to come out and sing.

The event doesn’t follow any sort of format. People just call out their favourite carol, and the group gets to singing.

“As a music director, I’m always trying to include everybody’s favourite carols in the church services and there’s just not enough time, so a couple of years ago I thought you know what, why don’t we have a night where we just come and I’ll sing everybody’s favourite,” said the church’s music director, Jenny Trites.

“That became Casual Carols, and we invite people to come in, it’s not rehearsed, it’s not planned, people just call out their carol requests and we do as many of them as we can in an hour.”

Participants say the event was a great way to get prepared for the holidays, even for those who aren’t experienced singers.

“It is a great evening, Jenny is so creative, we are so fortunate at Fort Massey here to have her. It’s a way for people to just come out, no pressure, you don’t have to be Pavarotti, you can be someone who likes to sing in the shower and have some fun doing the traditional and non-traditional music of the season,” said Carol Dobson who attended the singalong.

With files from CTV's Jim Kvammen. 

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