Nine Lessons and Carols 2026: King's College Time Dec. 24, Ballot Closes Nov. 16

King’s College, Cambridge says the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is at 3.00pm on Thursday 24th December 2026, which is 10 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) in New York, and that the ticket ballot closes at 9.00 am on Monday 16th November 2026. The college’s page says the service is broadcast live on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. The table below converts the broadcast for 12 places, and a printable card keeps the dates in one place.

What time is Nine Lessons and Carols in each time zone?

The college gives the broadcast as “3pm GMT (10:00 EST or 07:00 PST)” on 24 December. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time in London in winter. We calculated the other rows from each place’s December offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC); only the GMT, ET and Pacific Time (PT) lines are printed on the college’s page.

Place	Zone	Local time on the live broadcast
UK and Ireland	GMT (UTC+0)	3:00 p.m. Thu., Dec. 24
Paris, Berlin	Central European Time (CET, UTC+1)	4:00 p.m. Thu., Dec. 24
St. John’s, Newfoundland	UTC-3:30	11:30 a.m. Thu., Dec. 24
Halifax, Atlantic	UTC-4	11:00 a.m. Thu., Dec. 24
New York, Eastern	ET (UTC-5)	10:00 a.m. Thu., Dec. 24
Chicago, Central	UTC-6	9:00 a.m. Thu., Dec. 24
Denver, Mountain	UTC-7	8:00 a.m. Thu., Dec. 24
Los Angeles, Pacific	PT (UTC-8)	7:00 a.m. Thu., Dec. 24
Anchorage, Alaska	UTC-9	6:00 a.m. Thu., Dec. 24
Honolulu, Hawaii	UTC-10	5:00 a.m. Thu., Dec. 24
Sydney	Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT), UTC+11	2:00 a.m. Fri., Dec. 25
Auckland	New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT), UTC+13	4:00 a.m. Fri., Dec. 25

The repeat on BBC Radio 3 is at 1pm on Christmas Day, the college says. That is 1 p.m. GMT on Friday, Dec. 25, or 8 a.m. ET and 5 a.m. PT. The BBC World Service also re-broadcasts it “at various times”; the college does not list them. Christmas Eve falls on Thursday in 2026; see When is Christmas Eve? and the December 2026 printable calendar.

When does the ticket ballot close and who is told when?

Tickets are allocated in advance through an annual online ballot, King’s College says, and “there is no longer a public queue for tickets.” As of Nov. 8, 2026, the college’s page says the 2026 ballot “is now open.” It closes at 9.00 am on Monday 16th November 2026.

Step	College’s date	U.S. equivalent
Ballot closes	9.00 am GMT, Monday 16th November 2026	4 a.m. ET, 1 a.m. PT, Monday, Nov. 16
Successful applicants emailed	Friday 20 November 2026	Friday, Nov. 20 (time not announced)
Service	3.00pm, Thursday 24th December 2026	10 a.m. ET, 7 a.m. PT

Because the deadline is 9 a.m. in the UK, readers in the U.S. must enter by Sunday night their time. Some listings give an earlier closing date; the college’s page says Monday 16 November at 9.00 am. The college says it makes “approximately half the tickets for this service available to members of the public,” and that successful applicants receive instructions on how to obtain their complimentary tickets. The ballot’s opening date, the number of tickets per application and arrival rules are not on the page we read, so check the college’s page before you apply. Add the November 2026 printable calendar to your fridge so the Nov. 16 and Nov. 20 dates stay in view.

Which U.S. radio stations carry the service?

In the United States the service is distributed by American Public Media and broadcast by over 400 radio stations, including Minnesota Public Radio and a New York station, the college says. It adds that there is no list of stations carrying the service, so it is best to contact local stations or check their online listings.

Is Carols from King’s the same programme?

No. King’s College says the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols “is distinct from Carols from King’s, which is a carol service pre-recorded for BBC television, also broadcast on Christmas Eve.” The college’s Carols from King’s page says it is shown on BBC Two on Christmas Eve and asks viewers to check the BBC TV guide for the time. The 2026 time is not yet announced, and we have not given a time from an earlier year.

What is in the service and how long has it run?

The college says the opening carol is always “Once in Royal David’s City,” and there is always a new, specially commissioned carol. A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was first held at King’s on Christmas Eve 1918, according to the college’s history page, which says it was introduced by Eric Milner-White. The history page says the service was first broadcast in 1928 and mentions 1930 as an exception.

Printable: Nine Lessons and Carols listening card

The printable lists the ballot close, the results email and the live service, with the Radio 3 repeat in its note, in GMT, Eastern and Pacific times and a column for your own plan. For another UK Christmas broadcast, see what time the King’s Christmas message airs, and for the days off, UK Christmas bank holidays.