Opportunities From: Love Out Loud

Want to sign up for Christmas for the City 2026, but don't quite know what volunteer opportunity you want to register for? Sign up for THIS opportunity and the Christmas for the City team will reach out to you to talk about your interests, availability, etc and we'll find a spot that fills your heart and brings you holiday cheer!

As a part of the “Capture the Event” Photography team, you’ll be helping us “freeze” memories during the event. We need those who are skilled in photography, videography or social media to assist us throughout the night. We will be working as a team to photograph the event and celebrate the God moments and joy that is shared by those within our city. If you are interested in serving in this way then sign up for this team.

We'd love to also have photographers set up at different photo-ops around the building!

Equipment required for photographers to bring: DLSR or High Quality smartphone.

Love Out Loud is throwing it's first-ever dance party at CFTC. We'll be teaching and playing music for 5 different dance styles. The dance floor is open to everyone, but we need volunteers who are willing to jump on the dance floor to inspire others to feel confident and dance to have fun.

Please sign up to show up and help us get the party started!

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Since 2008, local churches, organizations and members of the arts community have come together to throw a free citywide Christmas party pulling out all the stops: live music performances and interactive arts, original work by local artists, make-your-own toy workshop, Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men, warm drinks and desserts, and lots of other interactive activities for all ages! In years past, 1,200+ volunteers have welcomed over 10,000 guests for an evening of celebration and community at the Benton Convention Center in downtown Winston-Salem.

We engage the wide network of churches/faith groups, nonprofits, businesses, and individuals to shape (and re-shape!) the experience this year!  Our Volunteer Central is a room that volunteers can go for drinks and snacks. We need individuals to contribute:

You can drop items off at SPARK's (handling Volunteer Check-in) office at Sherwood Forest UMC at 5250 Silas Creek Pkwy  Winston Salem, NC 27106 at the circle drive in the largest wooden bin by Monday, December 14.

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

This year, the North Pole Village is all about experiencing the simple but powerful joy of Christmas! Meet Santa and his elves. Loving volunteers are needed to help with supplies, to warmly welcome our guests, to assist the kids with their activities, and to be open to meaningful conversations with families as they experience the heart of Christmas – the love of Christ. 

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026

Help Christmas for the City LOAD IN our event on Thursday Morning and take over the Benton Convention Center. 

If you're available Thursday Morning - meet us at Extra Space Storage

We'll have a truck to Load Things into - we'll head over to The Hub (Love Out Loud Office) to finish loading and then Unload at The Benton!

If you're able to join us for part of the time - let us know and we'll share where we are!!

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Have a creative sparkle? Love fluffing the branches of wreaths? (or willing to take directions from someone who does?)

Christmas for the City takes up every corner or Benton and part of the magic comes from making it look a little bit more like a winter wonderland than a convention center. 

Join us for one of these shifts to create the magic - please designate in the "other information" box if you're comfortable being the creative mind or would prefer to have someone directing you!

 Here's some of the areas we'll be decorating: 

FRIDAY

Santa's Workshop

Love Feast Tables

Prayer Room

Main hallways

Main Stage + Main Stage Tables

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Love Out Loud is throwing it's first-ever dance party at CFTC. We'll be teaching and playing music for 5 different dance styles. The dance floor is open to everyone, but we need volunteers who are willing to jump on the dance floor to inspire others to feel confident and dance to have fun.

1. Urban Line dancing and Cow Girl Trail Ride

2. Hip-hop

3. Salsa

4. Swing

5. disco/funk/freestyle.

Please sign up to show up and help us get the party started!

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Join us as an emcee for one of our many stages around the building.  You will help to introduce artists who are coming to the stage to share their gifts, interact with attendees who may stop by to enjoy your stage, and help artists get set up during transitions.

Add on to every description: Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

We're looking for someone with the skills to capture the "magic" occurring throughout Christmas for the City.  This would include capturing musical arts performances, interactions between volunteers and attendees, the Main Stage and other portions of the event.  Footage captured by this person would be made available to the CFTC leadership team for sharing through web and media.

Videographers will use their own equipment.

Add on to every description: Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Help us show love and kindness to people by being available to pray with guests and show the love of Christ. Volunteers in this position go through the building to pray over the event and individuals requesting prayer.

Add on to every description: Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Help us show love and kindness to people by being available to pray with guests and show the love of Christ. Volunteers in this position will pray with guests in the prayer room.  

Add on to every description: Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Help us show love and kindness to people by being available to pray with guests and show the love of Christ. Volunteers in this position will welcome guests into the prayer room.

Help Christmas for the City TEAR DOWN our event on Saturday Evening and take stuff back to our storage unit at Extra Space Storage!

We'll have a truck to load things into - we'll head over to The Hub (Love Out Loud Office) to finish unloading and then unload at our storage unit!

We'll meet right after CFTC in the main lobby - join us!

If you're able to join us for part of the time - let us know and we'll share where we are!!

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

We Need You!

We've received an abundance of donations of desserts for Christmas for the City - but they need to be picked up!

Have a Vehicle? Can you help us pick stuff up on December 18th or 19th?

(Note - routes have between 3 - 5 pickup locations, they may not take 1.5 hours, that's just what we said for the sake of time)

Donations will be dropped off at The Benton Convention Center

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Volunteers in this role will provide direction to the creative faith elements of the event. There will be a pageant for families (and anyone) to be a part of that will feel very casual, but fun! There will be a space to express feelings and hope in a visual way. There will be a love feast for folks to be a part of. There will even be Stations of the Christmas Story (think Stations of the Cross approaching Easter). Volunteers in this area will be assigned to a "space", but will also be knowledgeable about what exists in the larger space and can provide a brief overview of each creative faith element.

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

We always need volunteers who are willing to be a part of serving desserts to thousands of people. Dessert table volunteers will serve brownies, cookies, slices of cakes, etc to an intergenerational crowd during the biggest holiday party in Winston-Salem. To be one of our volunteer runners, please sign up here!

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Our city has a diverse population. We want everyone to be able to experience Christmas for the City. If you have interpretive skills (sign language or bilingual), we would love to have you sign up to assist us in loving people. This role will be "on call" availability during the event. We may ask some of you to participate in our hospitality team at the entrances to greet our guests! Feel free to sign up for any other area in the building and designate that you would be willing to translate.

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Smiles wanted! Volunteers in this area will create a welcoming atmosphere wherever they serve throughout the building…and beyond: help us host every space on the entire city block!

Greeters: Welcome guests at the doors and on the sidewalk as they enter the Benton Convention Center.

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Smiles wanted! Volunteers in this area will create a welcoming atmosphere. Help guide people through the event and answer questions that may come your way. Connect guests to interpretive services if needed and available. Help provide a meaningful experience to those who come to the event. Volunteers will be located at central spots where community members enter the convention center.

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

A Heart of Hospitality Wanted! Volunteers in this area will create a welcoming atmosphere to approved Christmas For The City volunteers to offer them refreshment from their serving post. Specifically, the Hospitality Room encourages and cares for volunteers as they are serving throughout the day of the entire CFTC event.

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

The more the merrier!  Volunteers in this role will provide “Merry” Movement of guest groups (10-20 people) throughout the rooms where holidays around the world are highlighted.  Our knowledgeable Tour Guides will lead groups in the space and provide a brief overview of each creative and bustling holiday.

Training as a tour guide will be provided in a video format one - week prior to CFTC event.

Volunteers will be emailed with details about check-in and shift in December closer to Christmas for the City 2026.

Join us for a social evening with light hors d'oeuvres on September 10th at The Mixxer to learn more about volunteer opportunities at Christmas for the City 2026. Please come with questions about specific areas for volunteering and be ready to share with the Christmas for the City team the interests you have for being a part of the largest holiday party in Winston-Salem, NC. You'll be able to sign up at this social for a specific opportunity and shift on December 19th or talk through the opportunities that may be a good fit for you! 

Join us for a continental breakfast on September 11th to learn more about volunteer opportunities at Christmas for the City 2026. Please come with questions about specific areas for volunteering and be ready to share with the Christmas for the City team the interests you have for being a part of the largest holiday party in Winston-Salem, NC. You'll be able to sign up at this breakfast social for a specific opportunity and shift on December 19th or talk through the opportunities that may be a good fit for you! 

Since that first brainstorming meeting in late summer of 2008 at The Millennium Center, Christmas for the City has gone through numerous iterations and engaged a wide range of leaders and partners responsive to the times (anybody remember the drive-through CFTC of 2020?!). Rooted from the beginning in the simple vision of Love God, Love People, CFTC has grown into something remarkable — Winston-Salem's largest annual community celebration, where 8,000-10,000 neighbors from every background gather to encounter belonging and one another.

CFTC2025 was a true labor of love — new ideas, an expanded leadership team, and a gathering filled with hope in a time when we all need it. With 52 partner organizations, 1,200+ volunteers, and tens of thousands of meaningful connections made across a single evening, it was a vivid picture of what's possible when our whole community shows up together.

Plans for CFTC2026 are already underway, and we want you at the table. Whether your gifts are in logistics, partnerships, programming, hospitality, or something else entirely, there's an action team where you belong.

Sign up here to stay informed about upcoming planning meetings and details for CFTC2026. We also invite you to join us for our first planning meeting:

Thursday, April 16 | 11:30am–1:00pm The Hub | 500 N. Broad St., Winston-Salem Lunch provided

Come help us make the big feel small — again.