'Banging on the windows to try to get in': The CBC Sing-In looks back at 40 years

This year, theCBC Sing-Inis collecting donations for The Montreal Children's Library.Donations can also be madeonline.

Over the decades, the CBC Sing-In has gone from instant hit toinstitution and, on the eve of its40th edition, the founders say they never thought it would be so popular.

Former CBCmusic producerFrances Wainwright credits her husband with planting the seed that would become the Sing-In.

He told her how much helovedthe experience of going to church to sing carols when he was young.

"So I thought, 'Who better than his Jewish wife to organize such an event?'" Wainwright joked.

"The idea was that it would be a community gathering with seasonal music, congregational carols, and [it would be] a reflection of the true spirit of the season without being too specific."

She approached the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul conductorWayne Riddellto help organize the event.

Riddell decided on the programand wanted it to mix songs people would get up and sing to, with pieces that highlighted the presence of the Canadian Brass a famous brass quintet that Riddell said was a big draw in the early 1980s.

The first editionended up generating so much excitement,it proved a bit overwhelming, he said.

"People were banging on the windows to try to get in. It was a bit scary," Riddellrecalled.

More than 1,000 people lined up on Sherbrooke Street outside the church on the cold December morning.

The wild success of thatfirst edition caught organizers by surprise. Wainwright found herself having to turn hundreds of peopleaway.

"We were completely unprepared," Wainwright said.

In thoseearly years, when people realized they weren't going to get in, they got creative.

"People tried to get into the side doors on Redpath Street, to kind of, sneak into the church," Wainwright said.

While CBC does most of the organizing, the church's volunteers help with crowd control on the day of the event.

Now, tickets are distributed online so people don't have to wait in the cold or try to sneak in through the side door, or bang on the windows on the day of the event.

Since 2013 there has also been a second venue, Bourgie Hall with an extra 450 seats.

"I can't imagine anyone going and not enjoying it," Riddell said.

In all, over the years, more than 40,000 people have filled the pews atthe Church of St. Andrew and St. Paulto sing carols and meet CBC personalities.

Riddell was the conductor until 1986, and came backfor a few editions afterward. But he's attended each, even when he's not conducting.

Wainwright, meanwhile, retired from CBC in 1997 and now lives in British Columbia, where she watches the Sing-In on the CBC Montreal Facebook page.

Tickets for the 40th edition were gone in minutes but the event will be streamed on our Facebook and website, as well as CBC Gem, starting at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8.