What's On

Durham Cathedral is the resting place of St Cuthbert, built to house his shrine. 

Cuthbert is often referred to as the Patron Saint of Northern England and every year we celebrate his life and influence with an array of special services and events on and around 20 March, his saint’s day. 

Explore Open Treasure with 2 for 1 on tickets during the St Cuthbert Festival. Our world-class exhibition experience begins in the magnificent 14th century Monks' Dormitory and explores the history of Durham Cathedral and our region through fascinating artefacts from Durham Cathedral's collections. Marvel at the Treasures of St Cuthbert in the atmospheric Great Kitchen and add yourself to our interactive world map in the Pilgrimage Gallery.

Open Treasure is open every day (Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm, last entry 4pm; Sunday 12.30pm - 5pm, last entry 4pm). 2 for 1 ticket offer applies during the St Cuthbert Festival, from Wednesday 20 March to Saturday 23 March 2019.

To celebrate the inspiring building created to honour and house St Cuthbert, all online and in-person donations to the Cathedral on 23 March will be doubled, thanks to match-funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We're putting the money towards Foundation 2020, an endowment campaign raising funds for the care and repair of this amazing building. 

A Team Cycle Event in Support of Foundation 2020 (without leaving the Cathedral!)

On Saturday 23 March 2019, as part of the St Cuthbert Festival, we’re putting together a team of volunteers to cycle on an exercise bike the distance from Lindisfarne, St Cuthbert's original resting place, to Durham, his home from 995. Starting at 9.15am on Saturday, we’re looking for a cohort of Tour de Cuthbert cyclists to get on our bike and help us with the 90 mile ride.

We invite you to join the St Cuthbert Walk from Chester-le-Street to Durham Cathedral on 23 March. A popular part of the St Cuthbert Festival, this 8-mile walk organised by the Northumbrian Association follows a historic pilgrimage route and is an opportunity for a fantastic spring walk through the County Durham countryside. The walk is free but booking is required.

The 14th century Great Kitchen is one of the highlights of the Cathedral's award-winning museum experience, Open Treasure. Today, it houses the Treasures of St Cuthbert, but it has seen many changes over the centuries. This exhibition explores its history, how it was built, and gives an insight into the food and drink that would have been prepared there.

An opportunity to purchase local food and produce in a special market in the Cathedral Cloister.

Storyteller Adam Bushnell will celebrate St Cuthbert with stories about the Anglo Saxons and the vicious Vikings! There will be object handling and other activities suitable for ages 3+.

Free public tours take place at 10am, 10.30am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm. 

For more information please visit https://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/visit-us/guided-tours

Stephen has worked with acrylic and watercolour for forty years, and his works reflect a lifelong passion for the days of steam railways. A selling exhibition in the Cathedral's Undercroft Restaurant.

Author Katharine Tiernan will in the Cathedral Shop to sign copies and answer your questions about her new novel Cuthbert of Farne on Saturday 23 March from 11am to 3pm. 

Durham Cathedral Choir is joined by Newcastle Cathedral Choir to honour our Northern Saint. The service concludes with a procession to the Feretory, the Shrine of St Cuthbert. All are welcome. 

This is music by composers whose lives took them into different musical and spiritual moods but who speak clearly across the centuries, shedding colour and light on one another, and culminating in a musical tapestry as extraordinary as any Renaissance stained-glass window would have been to a pilgrim coming to a Cathedral for the first time on a sunlit morning. The programme for the concert will include Howell's Requiem and music by Tallis, including Spem in Alium.

Come and join the education team and make a daffodil headband to take home.  Suitable for all ages.

Come and join the education team and create an Easter chick decoration.  Suitable for all ages.

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, and commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. 

Durham Cathedral Choir joins forces with the Avison Ensemble to perform Bach’s stunning St John Passion on the evening of Palm Sunday 2019. This unmissable concert will be conducted by Daniel Cook, Master of the Choristers and Organist at Durham Cathedral.  The orchestra will be led by renowned period instrument violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk.  The Evangelist will be sung by Phil Durrant, Lay-Clerk, Durham Cathedral, with other solos sung by members of the Cathedral Choir. 

An evening service of contemplation and prayer that has been offered since the days of monastic life.

An evening service of contemplation and prayer that has been offered since the days of monastic life.

An evening service of contemplation and prayer that has been offered since the days of monastic life.

Bishops, priests and deacons of the diocese renew their ministerial vows at a service of Holy Communion on the day before the commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus.

Maundy Thursday is the evening of the Last Supper. On his final evening with his disciples, Jesus instituted the Eucharist, commanding his disciples to wash one anothers' feet.  After that final meal, Jesus and his disciples went out to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.

At the centre of Good Friday is the Cross. In this service its meaning is brought home to us in three ways: first by hearing the account of the Passion in St John’s Gospel; then by praying for all those for whom Christ died; then by reflecting on and reverencing a visible cross.

We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ at our Easter Day services. All are welcome. 

5am – Dawn Liturgy with Initiation and the First Communion of Easter
8am – Holy Communion
10am – Matins
11.15am – Sung Eucharist
3.30pm – Evensong

Many Christians are familiar with the traditional Stations of the Cross as a devotion used customarily on Fridays and during Lent and Passiontide. In more recent years, complementary series of devotions around the biblical accounts of the Resurrection have been developed by the Liturgical Commission of the Church of England in Common Worship: Times and Seasons. The service is a dramatic procession, exploring by movement, symbol, word and music the mystery of the Resurrection.

The Cathedral community commemorates the ‘Father of English learning’ with a Sung Eucharist held at his shrine in the Galilee Chapel.

We continue with our celebrations of Bede, ‘the Father of English learning’ with Choral Evensong and Procession.

We celebrate our Lord's ascension into heaven with Solemn Evensong at 5.15pm, followed by Sung Eucharist at 7.30pm. 

Pentecost calls to mind the descent of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ disciples and the beginning of their mission to take God’s word out into the world.

This exhibition in Open Treasure, Durham Cathedral's award-winning museum experience, traces the history of Vikings in North East England. It tells the story of the devastating raids on Lindisfarne in 793 AD, and how the Community of St Cuthbert searched for a safe home for their saint after leaving Lindisfarne in 875 AD. We also examine how, over a period of over 200 years, the Vikings invaders and later settlers shaped the political and cultural landscape of Northumbria through raids, trade and conquest.

The Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin, ‘the Body of Christ’) is a day in which we give thanks for the gift of Holy Communion. Christ’s command to break bread and share wine together, in remembrance of him, is at the heart of Christian worship, and we call this to mind at every Holy Communion.

Join us on the Summer Solstice for a early morning photography session. 

New Priests of the Diocese are ordained by the Bishop, and their ministry inaugurated, in a celebratory service at the Cathedral.

New Deacons of the Diocese are ordained by the Bishop, and their ministry inaugurated, during a great service of celebration in the Cathedral. 

Thousands of people from across the County and beyond come to Durham to celebrate the rich mining heritage of the North East. This day of festivites culminates in the procession of pit banners, preceded by the pit brass bands, to the Cathedral, where they are laid up, and often new banners are dedicated.

Join us for an evening of photography inside Durham Cathedral.

September 4 has long been venerated as the anniversary of the enshrining in 999 of the body of St Cuthbert in the original ‘White Church’ prior to the building of the present Cathedral, and we celebrate this today with Sung Eucharist at 11.15am.

Veterans from the Durham Light Infantry hold an annual reunion service in the Cathedral, at which the regimental roll of honour is read and hymns and prayers are offered in commemoration of the fallen, and those who have died since the previous reunion. The service centres around the Durham Light Infantry Chapel, in which the regimental colours are preserved. 

The Battle of Britain, a pivotal conflict of the Second World War, saved England from invasion and prepared the way for the subsequent liberation of Europe and the defeat of the Nazis.  The bravery and sacrifice of so many men is commemorated at Evensong today.

Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are the three named biblical angels, depicted as the beloved messengers of God.  A basilica near Rome was dedicated in the fifth century in honour of Michael on 30 September, beginning with celebrations on the eve of that day, and 29 September is now kept in honour of Michael and all Angels throughout the western Church.  

An exhibition in Open Treasure, Durham Cathedral's award-winning museum experience, showcasing the exquisite and extraordinary maps, charts and atlases in the Durham Cathedral Library collections, including early maps of Durham.

A special day of services in honour of God’s saints including Holy Communion at 7.30am, and a Sung Eucharist in the Quire at 7.30pm.

On All Souls’ Day, we commemorate all those whom we have loved and lost, at a celebration of the Eucharist. All are welcome to attend and give thanks for the life of a family member or friend.

The Cathedral Community is joined by military representatives and dignitaries to remember those who have given their lives for their country and the serving soldiers who put their lives at risk today. The service will be followed by wreath-laying and a formal parade.
 

Join Durham Cathedral Choir and the Reg Vardy Band for a spectacular candlelit evening of festive classics.