This year, every Church of England cathedral will open their doors after hours on at least one evening though out the year.

Some will just open their doors to let late night visitors in, but most will have events on as well, but the main attraction will be to see the inside of these grand buildings in a twilight that’s often not seen.

The “Cathedrals at Night” project aims to bring together the 42 Church of England cathedrals, Westminster Abbey, Cathedral Isle of Man, and St Davids and St Asaph from the Church in Wales, around a single, simple campaign.

The concept has been used already in European cathedrals which open on the same night in May every year and it is hoped Cathedrals at Night will become a regular fixture here too beyond 2020.

Cathedrals at Night events will take place on dates throughout the year.

Some cathedrals, like Durham, Ripon and Gloucester are opening their doors for more than one “Night”. St Albans is recreating its medieval past with a host of activities including illuminating its medieval wall paintings; Lichfield will explore its theme “Fully Alive” with its Artist in Residence, Peter Walker; Birmingham is offering Pimms and Hymns, Christ Church Oxford is offering music and pilgrimage until late, while other cathedrals have found local partners, like Wakefield, which will welcome visitors in for its “Night” as part of the Wakefield Bid and Cultural Consortium offer that will see the Cathedral gardens transformed by fire sculptures in a Fire Garden event by award-winning outdoor arts organisation, Walk the Plank.

St Edmundsbury Cathedral will host the final Cathedrals at Night event for 2020 in November with a light and art show that will form a part of the city’s 1,000th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Abbey.

Here in London, both St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey will be participating. London’s other cathedrals wont, this year at least, as they’re not Church of England.

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2 comments
  1. Clare Lees says:
    12 March 2020 at 2:07 pm

    You say (somewhere) that St Paul’s & Westminster Abbey are taking part but no other London cathedrals as they aren’t C of E. What about Southwark anglican cathedral??

    Sounds a great idea 🙂

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