FC Schalke 04 is not holding a Christmas sing-along this year. However, S04 fans don’t have to go without a festive atmosphere.

This year, FC Schalke 04 has decided not to offer a Christmas sing-along with its fans. A strategic decision.

Or a vote with your feet. Or your throats. The recent decline in attendance is likely to have played a role in the decision to forgo the event. There was simply not enough demand for such a large event.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, almost 34,000 Schalke fans attended the event in the stadium to get in the mood for the Christian festival with songs and speeches, but in 2022, only 16,000 Schalke fans were there to sing Christmas carols with pop star Olaf Henning, among others. It is therefore an understandable decision to at least take a break.

Although FC Schalke 04 is not holding its Christmas sing-along in the Schalke Arena this year, the fans of the royal blue team still do not have to do without a community Christmas experience in royal blue. Because the traditional Advent sing-along of the supporters’ club in the Glückauf-Kampfbahn is taking place. And this is already the eighth time. On the third Sunday in Advent, admission is from 4:30 p.m., and the event begins at 6:04 p.m.

The “GAK” stands always offer a bit more than 500 fans an atmospheric and historic backdrop. The available tickets are usually all sold out.

The Advent Singing is organized by the Supporters’ Club together with Teutonia Schalke and the parish of St. Augustinus (Offene Kirche auf Schalke – St. Joseph). Tickets cost four euros. The net proceeds from ticket sales will again be donated to Gelsenkirchen institutions. There will be Christmas market stalls selling beer and bratwurst, mulled wine and biscuits.

We have already sold around 500 tickets again. Not many more are available

Andreas Jour

“We have already sold around 500 tickets again. We can’t sell many more. But you can still buy tickets on Friday at our Schalker-Meile-Treff and there before the home game against Greuther Fürth,” says Supportsclub chairman Andreas Jour. ‘If there are still tickets left, we might also offer to buy tickets in the members’ corner in the stadium against Fürth.”

The Supporters Club’s Advent Singing has been around since 2014. Two years later, S04 also started its own event in the large stadium. At first, there was even a temporal competition, as both events took place on the same day. The problem was later resolved and the singing was held on different days.

But this time, the miners decided against such an event. By way of comparison, a few kilometers further on in Dortmund, BVB sold 70,000 tickets for its Christmas singing event on December 17, 2023 within a few days.