The sounds of timeless Christmas carols and holiday songs will ring through Mammoth Cave on Sunday.

Mammoth Cave National Park’s 38th annual Cave Sing will feature a musical performance from the Spirit of the Commonwealth Chorus, a barbershop a capella group with more than 40 members.

The tradition of Cave Sing goes back to 1980, when William Mott, then-director of the National Parks Service, directed all national parks to hold an event to reach out to their local communities, according to park spokeswoman Vickie Carson.

“He wanted all parks to do something to connect with their communities,” she said. “I’m not sure why we chose to do that, but it is a lasting tradition.”

Carson said she thinks Cave Sing’s longevity is due partly to the unusual way the cave is used.

“It shows off the cave in a different way,” she said. “The sounds in the cave are beautiful.”

At 1 p.m., according to a release from MCNP, the event will begin with a performance by Janet Bass Smith, a concert pianist and former cave guide at the park, in the visitor center.

At 2 p.m., visitors can go to Shelter A behind the visitor center to walk down to the entrance of Rafinesque Hall, which is part of the cave system.

Admission is free, Carson said, though she cautioned that the Spirit of the Commonwealth Chorus will be performing in Rafinesque Hall and will require visitors to walk down a hill to the cave entrance and walk a quarter of a mile from there to the location of the concert.

For the event, the chorus is planning a variety of Christmas songs, both religious and secular, in a number of styles, according to Brian Schuck, a member of the group.

“We really try to mix it up a lot,” he said, adding that the chorus performs a capella music that takes cues from various musical styles like barbershop, swing and jazz.

In an email, Schuck said the songs the group plans to sing include more religious numbers like “Joy to the World” and “Go Tell it on the Mountain” and more modern pieces like “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”

Schuck has participated in Cave Sing only once before, though the Chorus has participated in it numerous times through the years, he said.

The acoustics of the cave make for a unique concert experience, Schuck said.

“What it allows us to do is, if you sing good, you can put a lot of sound out there,” he said.

Schuck said he hopes the concerts can bring a lot of community people together to enjoy the holiday season.

“What’s important to us is creating harmony,” he said. “We want to bring people together in good ways.”

After the performance, Santa will be at the Lodge at Mammoth Cave, Carson said.

The Friends of Mammoth Cave will also hold its annual meeting, which is open to the public, at 3:30 p.m. at the Lodge at Mammoth Cave on Sunday, after the Chorus’ performance, she said.

“They’ll be reviewing what they’ve done this year and what they’re planning to do this year,” she said.