Christmas at Concordia tickets go on sale online tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 6, at 8 a.m., and that sale decides most of who gets in this year. The four concerts at St. John Lutheran Church are the only part of Seward's holiday season that runs on a ticket limit with no waitlist. The tree lightings and the square on parade night are open to anyone who shows up, and the morning run takes registrations until the night before. If you plan around tomorrow, the rest of the season can wait until the week of.
Friday at 8 a.m. is the deadline
The in-person ticket window at Cattle Bank in Seward ran Monday, Oct. 26, through Friday, Oct. 30, while supplies lasted. Whatever is left goes up online tomorrow morning through the link on Concordia University Nebraska's Christmas at Concordia page.
The concerts are all at St. John Lutheran Church in Seward:
- Friday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, at 3 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m.
The rules are short and strict. Each registrant can get four tickets at most, so a group of six needs two people ordering. Orders have to be in the names of the people attending, so if you're buying for a parent or neighbor who can't order online, use their contact information. Everyone who takes a seat needs a ticket. The only exception is a child under two held for the whole concert.
Concordia's own FAQ explains the cap plainly:
"Demand for Christmas at Concordia tickets far exceeds concert capacity. Ticket limits are set and enforced to allow as many people as possible to attend and enjoy the concerts."
For changes or cancellations, Concordia lists [email protected] and 402-643-7341. Registration information is also shared with Cattle Bank & Trust, which sponsors the series.
Four concerts and still not enough seats
The concerts are hard to get into because the event keeps outgrowing its rooms. According to Concordia's history of the tradition, the choirs' Christmas services date to the late 1920s, and the program took the name Christmas at Concordia in 1988. Growing crowds first pushed it into multiple performances in Weller Hall. By 1998 the concerts had moved to St. John Lutheran Church, and by 2012 there were four.
The building sets the limit, and the extra performances haven't kept up with demand. Concordia says tickets are required "due to sanctuary capacity limits and in adherence to fire code." There's no other way to watch, either. The university says it isn't livestreaming the series because of music licensing rights and cost.
If Friday doesn't go your way
Missing the online release still leaves you a few options.
Will call. Concordia doesn't keep a waiting list, but a limited number of tickets usually come back before each concert. They go out at the will-call table, which opens one hour before each performance, first come, first served. Concordia says to follow the event parking signs to lots at the university, St. John Lutheran Church and St. John Child Development Center, or park on a side street.
The tree lighting needs no ticket. Concordia's Tree Lighting and Open House is Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. at Weller Hall and Weller Circle. The Chamber Choir leads caroling, the trees on either side of the Weller steps are lit, and there are refreshments and music. Of everything Concordia hosts this season, it's the one you can bring a whole group to without managing four-ticket orders.
The buffet is ticketed separately. A Christmas buffet runs Dec. 4 and 5 from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. in the Cattle Conference Room at the Janzow Campus Center, with live music from Concordia's University Orchestra. Meal tickets are sold through their own link on the Christmas at Concordia page, which doesn't list a price.
Concordia also invites anyone who misses out to its other music events this fall and winter, listed on the university's music calendar.
The square's big moment moves to dusk
Nobody needs a ticket for anything on Saturday, Nov. 28, and this year that day's schedule is built around the evening.
Cultivate Seward County's parade announcement, posted Oct. 15, sets the 16th Annual Christmas Festival Lighted Parade for 5:30 p.m. in the Seward Downtown Square and Creative District. Festivities start at 4:45 p.m. with a proclamation from Mayor Josh Eickmeier. Winners of the Little Drummer Boy and Sugar Plum Fairy contest will help with the tree lighting.
That's a change. Last year's festival schedule listed the Christmas proclamation, the tree lighting and the contest winners' celebration for 10 a.m. This year all three happen at dusk, right before the parade. For anyone who used to come to the square twice that day, the main gathering is now one evening stretch.
Parade entries are still open, and every one has to be covered in lights. Illuminated figures are welcome. Entry fees by group:
- Businesses with 50 or more employees: $33.89
- Businesses with 1 to 49 employees: $23.24
- Churches, nonprofits and schools: $12.60
- First responders, color guard, bands and queens: free
The day starts much earlier. The Seward Reindeer Run offers a 5K and a 1-mile, with packet pickup from 7:45 to 8:10 a.m. at Seward Middle School. The $33.89 early price ended Oct. 30. Registration now costs $39.21 for either distance and closes Nov. 27.
The week before, Cultivate's Christmas LEGO Contest takes entries on the theme "Our Christmas Story" in Room 3 of the Civic Center, 616 Bradford St., from Thursday, Nov. 19, through Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 5 p.m. That page also carries an older posting date, so check the details with Cultivate Seward County before you build.
Cultivate hasn't posted the full 2026 festival-day lineup yet. Last year's schedule included free Coffee and Kolaches for veterans and their families at the Nebraska National Guard Museum, 201 N. 8th St., and come-and-go crafts at Seward Memorial Library, 233 S. 5th St. Weather canceled some of last year's events, including the run and the programs at Olde Glory. Treat the 2025 list as a guide to what usually happens, and watch Cultivate's festival page for this year's schedule.
Olde Glory takes the following week
Christmas at Concordia ends Sunday, Dec. 6, and three days later Olde Glory Theatre at 348 Jackson Ave. opens its Christmas production. This year it's Pat Cook's "The Man Who Wanted to be Santa Claus," running Wednesday, Dec. 9, through Sunday, Dec. 13. The theatre has done Cook's plays before: "The Christmas Express" in 2022 and "Not a Creature was Stirring, Not Even a Moose" in 2023.
Each night comes with a different package, and the weekend dinner seats are the ones to book early. Prices from Olde Glory's ticket page include fees:
| Performance | Format | Doors / show | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed., Dec. 9 and Thu., Dec. 10 | Show, adult | 6:30 / 7:00 p.m. | $19.65 |
| Wed., Dec. 9 and Thu., Dec. 10 | Show, 12 and under | 6:30 / 7:00 p.m. | $13.44 |
| Fri., Dec. 11 and Sat., Dec. 12 | Roast beef dinner theatre | 6:00 / 7:15 p.m. | $32.07 |
| Fri., Dec. 11 and Sat., Dec. 12 | Show only, no meal | 6:00 / 7:15 p.m. | $19.65 |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Dessert matinee | 1:00 / 2:00 p.m. | $24.83 |
Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. on the Friday and Saturday dinner nights, and dessert at 1:30 p.m. at the Sunday matinee. Concessions on the weeknights are cash only.
The theatre is also still working through a repair bill. On its homepage, Olde Glory thanks everyone who attended shows and donated in 2026 and says it still has "a ways to go to pay off our building repair loan from the hail storm."
If you spent a summer Saturday on the courthouse square during the Creative District's market and concert season, most of December's events take place on those same few blocks, with the Concordia concerts a short drive away at St. John.
The Avid Realty team keeps an eye on Seward's calendar along with its housing market, from when the square fills up for the parade to when the concert tickets go on sale. If a move in or around Seward is on your list for the new year, schedule a consultation and we'll walk you through the town as well as the listings.
