need a christmas song to open our show - any ideas?

[lirael]

I work in a secondary age special school and am in charge of the Christmas show this year. I need a carol or song to start us off - the show is going to be about Christmas traditions from around the world and the idea is that 5 pupils have won lucky dip tickets to 5 different countries to learn about their customs. So our opening number needs to be something about travel, or journeys, or the world, or feeling excited..... Any ideas? Am stumped!

Joy to the World

Fairytale of New York I had to get that in

I really love Carol of the Bells (but it;s not about travel unless you do the advert for Garmin Sat Nav version)

What a wonderful world? Not Christmassy but really fab as a signed/sung opener!

something poppy that teens would like singing and maybe some of your traditions are simple things?:

'Somewhere only we know' Keane/lily Allen/John Lewis Christmas ad

"I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete
Oh simple thing where have you gone? etc"

It's not Christmassy but I really like Colour My World.

Band aid or how about

"Do you hear what I hear"?

Rockin' around the Xmas Tree? It's jolly, and it suggests more to come?

Do they know it's Christmas time(feed the world let them know it's Christmas time etc) - band Aid

We did the 'Somewhere only we know' Christmas as version last year. Sung and signed and there wasn't a dry eye on the audience

Last year our music teacher did a 'carol of the bells/pachabels Canon' mash up. I was amazing!

In a Bleak Midwinter.
gorgeous

Do they know it's Christmas time Band Aid

A Spaceman Came Travelling.

Sleigh Ride? Not sure what it's called...it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you...

Done here by a choir

Silent Night with the German words?
I don't know if you can get it online but at Disneyland Paris at Xmas they play It's a Small World and it mixes into Jingle Bells.

There's a lovely version Here by a primary school so younger than yours.

OP - you've said its a secondary special needs school - would Little Donkey be too childish?
Otherwise Joy to the World or We Three Kings?

Christmas is all around? The love actually version of love is all around?

Love these ideas! My singing kids will love trying them out too, thanks for the question OP

These are all fab - particularly keen on Somewhere only we know or Its the most wonderful time - thank you everyone!

I was going to offer Six White Boomers - it's an Aussie Christmas song - but then saw that it was a Rolf song so probably not very PC at the moment :(

If you do Australia though, it is a good one. :(