The Dying Art of Carolling

When one thinks of Christmas, one thinks of trees, food, family, etc. As an art historian, however, the word Christmas evokes an image of a grandiose cathedral lit by warm lamps, with a choir dressed in red at the forefront singing classic Christmas songs. Unfortunately, I have never actually seen this scene in real life. In fact, I have never seen carollers in any capacityr.

On the tail of the what-happened-to-trick-or-treaters dialogue of this year’s Halloween, I’m left to wonder when carolling became something so rare. I saw it in films growing up, and I still associate it with the holiday season, but truly, why did the practise die? I have a vague theory.

Maybe it’s just part of cultural evolution, but the way we celebrate holidays is undoubtedly changing (I am speaking generally about the Western hemisphere). With the growing prevalence of individualisation and technology, community-building and oriented activities like carolling are slowly receding into niches. As obvious as that statement sounds, I believe it is important to be aware of changes such as this one - whether that is to mitigate them, or just be conscious of our society’s development, you decide. Personally, I feel sad and a little wistful that we’re letting these traditions slip through our fingers. I’m not attempting to bring about a movement of change or anything, but I do want us to be aware of what we consider valuable in our intangible cultures.