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From comedian & writer Paul Kerensa:

Last night, my local pub housed me and over a hundred others for a celebration of carols and comedy.  We do this every December: some stand-up, then Hark The Herald, another comedian, then Silent Night, and as ever last night was far from silent. Beer and joy overflowed, as punters tried to reach both the bar and the high notes.

It may sound odd, but carols in pubs are nothing new. If you’re not lucky enough to be able to hear or watch the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Music Awards tonight, and if you’re in a Yorkshire or Derbyshire pub, you might witness one of their famous pub sings. Some say ‘pub carols’ have a longer history than ‘church carols’, since the Puritans banned church-carolling a few centuries back, for not being Christian enough. After all, the word ‘carol’ actually means ‘dance’... and we all know where that can lead.

Today of course church has taken ownership of carols, and I’ve even been to church carol services with choir-harmonised versions of I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. I’m sure some traditionalists baulk at the idea of Wizzard or Mariah Carey rubbing shoulders with O Come All Ye Faithful. But for me, the rich history of Christmas songs is rich because the Christmas story is greater than the lot of them. Each song is not Christmas, but is a signpost to Christmas, whether it’s The First Nowell or Last Christmas by Wham. When you fling your doors open wide, hostelry or religious building, songs and ideas and life can flow in or out, one to the other. A pub gets God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, a church gets All I Want For Christmas Is You. It’s a fair swap, and it’s all window-dressing for the main event.