The A66 at night just past Troutbeck, heading west: car lights on the wet road, snow on the verges, and Blencathra snow-covered under a starry sky

Christmas in the Lake District 2026

Every market, Santa train, lights night, grotto, light trail and Christmas Day lunch in the Lakes and Cumbria — with the date checked, or a plain note that the organiser hasn't announced it yet.

Pick the day you're coming

or a town
Written by Peter A Cumbrian family guide, written in Penrith Dates checked 15 September 2026
This page was checked for the 2026 season. dates have not yet been announced by most organisers — treat every date below as last year's until this line disappears.

The season, in one page

First weekend of November to the first weekend of January

The Lake District's Christmas season runs from the first weekend of November, when Holker Hall opens its Winter Market on Friday 6 November, to Sunday 3 January, when A Christmas Carol closes at Theatre by the Lake. One correction before anything else: the volunteer-run Windermere Christmas Market on Victoria Street is not running in 2026. The Bowness-on-Windermere Christmas Market on the Glebe is the one people mean when they search for a Windermere Christmas market — it has run a Christmas edition in past years, and nothing has been announced for 2026 as of 15 September.

Every date on this page has been read on the organiser's own website and checked against a 2026 calendar. Where an organiser has not yet announced this year's dates, the entry says so rather than guessing. Read the opening paragraph of each section and you have the whole season; the lists underneath are there when you want the detail.

The spine of the season

Christmas markets and fairs

There are a dozen Christmas markets and fairs across Cumbria between the first weekend of November and the second weekend of December. The two with the most people looking for them are Keswick's Victorian Fayre, on Sunday 6 December, and Carlisle's city-centre market, which usually opens with the lights in mid-November. The volunteer Windermere village market isn't running this year; the Glebe in Bowness has run a Christmas edition before and hasn't announced 2026 yet.

A night-time Christmas street market in a Lake District town, blue Made in Cumbria gazebos lit up along a slate-built street under strings of festoon lights, crowds browsing the stalls
Stalls and festoon lights on a Lakes market night. The market weekends are the busy ones — mid-week early December is the quiet time.

November

December

Penrith's Musgrave Monument clock tower wrapped in white Christmas lights in Market Square at night, a large illuminated angel figure on the wet flagstones in front of the bank, the lamp posts strung with lights and the pavements shining after rain
Penrith's Market Square at Christmas — the Musgrave Monument in lights, the angel on the wet flags. Penrith is the town we write from.

Santa trains Cumbria

Santa trains and festive railways

Four railways in the Lake District and Cumbria run Santa trains, and none of them mentions the others, so here they are together. Ravenglass & Eskdale is the narrow-gauge steam line from the coast into Eskdale, in its 150th year, with three different festive trains. Lakeside & Haverthwaite is the standard-gauge steam line at the foot of Windermere. Threlkeld Quarry, four miles east of Keswick, runs a working-quarry steam loco on a short open-carriage line. Millerbeck, near Newby Bridge, is a volunteer-run miniature railway with tiny pre-booked slots. All four sell out; book before you travel and check the operator for times.

One paragraph per town

Town lights switch-ons

The first switch-on of the season is a hotel's — Lodore Falls in Borrowdale on Friday 13 November — and the towns follow over the next ten days. Keswick has moved off its usual Friday this year. Three towns hadn't published a 2026 date when this page went up; their entries say so.

Lodore Falls Hotel, Borrowdale — Friday 13 November 2026. Free, with Borrowdale School pupils singing, and new for 2026. Lodore Falls · Borrowdale

Carlisle — Sunday 15 November 2026, outside the Old Town Hall. The county's biggest switch-on; see the Carlisle section.

Keswick — Wednesday 18 November 2026, in the town centre. Keswick's switch-on moved off its usual Friday in 2026; the Town Council's own 2026 events list is the source, and it's the date to plan around if you're coming for the lights and the Victorian Fayre in the same trip. Family entertainment and live music from the afternoon. Keswick Town Council · Keswick

Ambleside — Saturday 21 November 2026. The whole day is one event: a Christmas market through the town, two Santa cruises from Waterhead Pier, and the switch-on parade in the evening. There are no fireworks in 2026 — the committee has said plainly that the cost and doubled insurance made them unaffordable, and the event goes back to its roots as a parade and switch-on. Cruise tickets went on sale on 1 October. Ambleside Christmas Lights ///prospers.thud.vast · Ambleside

Cockermouth — Sunday 22 November 2026, with an afternoon of stalls and entertainment before the lights go on at 5pm. Cockermouth Town Council

Coniston — 2026 date not yet announced. The Festive Fayre and switch-on usually fall in mid-November. Coniston Parish Council · Coniston

Kendal — 2026 date not yet announced. Usually late November. Kendal Town Council · Kendal

Penrith — 2026 date not yet announced. Penrith's switch-on is usually a Saturday in late November; the town council publishes late. Penrith Town Council · Penrith

The lobby of the George Hotel in Penrith decorated for Christmas, with two lit Christmas trees, wrapped presents and a white polar bear figure on a patterned red carpet
The George Hotel, Penrith, dressed for the season — the town's hotels decorate well before the lights go on.
A pub window seat framed by a garland of fairy lights, a glass of beer on the sill, looking out over a snow-covered square with a bench and stone buildings in a Cumbrian market town
A window seat, a snowy square outside — early December in a Cumbrian market town.

Father Christmas by boat

Santa cruises

Three lakes run a Father Christmas sailing, and only Ambleside's has a 2026 date so far.

25 December

Christmas Day lunch — and what to expect if you're here on the day

Almost nothing opens on Christmas Day in the Lake District. No attraction on this page opens on 25 December, the Santa trains have finished, the theatres are dark, and you should check the boat and bus operators rather than count on either. The day is a pre-booked lunch, a walk from the door, and the fells and lakeshores, which are open every day of the year.

Christmas Day lunch — pre-book, and check the operator for what's included

What reopens, and when: Lights of Lowther relights on Sunday 27 December and runs to the 30th — if you're here for Christmas week, that's the evening to aim at. On Monday 28 December the Ravenglass Winter Warmer trains start, Tomte's Yuletide Tale opens in Bowness and Pinocchio opens at Theatre by the Lake, where A Christmas Carol is back from Boxing Day.

A walk on the day: the Keswick walks page has the lakeshore and Latrigg from the town, and the Tarn Hows circuit is the flat one almost anyone can manage after lunch — both from the door, no ticket, no timetable.

Families sledging on the snow-covered golf course above Penrith, the Eden valley white to the fells beyond under a low winter sun
Sledging on the golf course at Penrith after snow.
Eden Bridge in hard frost, the red sandstone arches over the still River Eden between Lazonby and Kirkoswald, white-rimed trees on both banks under a pale winter sky
Eden Bridge between Lazonby and Kirkoswald, in hard frost.

Light trails and dressed houses

Christmas at the big houses and gardens

Lights of Lowther is brand new for 2026 — a light trail through the castle gardens near Penrith. Hill Top and Sizergh are the National Trust pair, one a storybook Christmas in Beatrix Potter's farmhouse, the other a light-and-sound trail. Levens and Muncaster have Father Christmas in the house.

Children in woolly hats toasting marshmallows over a fire pit under a wooden shelter at night, with the beams of a light trail in the trees behind
Marshmallows at the fire pit on a light-trail night. The trails run in the dark, so a fire, a hot drink and gloves are part of the plan.

The grotto, Lake District

Santa's grottos

The underground one at Honister is the one families travel for, and it sells out every year. Hayes in Ambleside is the easy one, with quiet sessions for children who need them. Taste Cumbria's in Cockermouth is free.

A small child in a red coat walking along a curved wooden boardwalk between rows of Christmas trees for sale at a garden centre, with lit decorations and a Father Christmas figure ahead
Choosing a tree at a Cumbrian garden centre — the grottos at Hayes and Beetham sit in the middle of exactly this.
Frosted trees and hedges along the lane through Lazonby village under a blue winter sky, snow on the verges and the road dry down the middle
Lazonby, an Eden valley village, under a hard frost.

One paragraph

Festive food

The hotels do the festive-lunch trade well and most of it books out. Lodore Falls runs a Frozen afternoon tea on Sunday 15 and Sunday 22 November, Santa's Sunday Lunch on Sunday 13 and Sunday 20 December, and — new for 2026 — Carols by Candlelight with Keswick Amateur Opera on Saturday 12 December. Inn on the Lake at Glenridding has its own Santa's Sunday Lunch on Sunday 6 and Sunday 13 December. The Victoria Wood Theatre in Bowness pairs The Gingerbread Boy with an afternoon tea from 20 to 23 December, the Kings Arms in Keswick runs a festive all-day menu from mid-November, and Beetham Nurseries' Wood Fired Kitchen does Breakfast with Santa on Saturday 12 December. Menus and booking are on the operators' pages: Lodore Falls · Inn on the Lake · Victoria Wood Theatre · Kings Arms · Beetham Nurseries.

Six shows, one paragraph

Christmas theatre

Six festive shows, three of them in Keswick. Theatre by the Lake's main-house show is A Christmas Carol, Friday 13 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, with relaxed, audio-described, captioned and BSL performances through the run; in the Studio, A Town Called Christmas runs Tuesday 8 to Sunday 27 December and Pinocchio takes over from Monday 28 December to Sunday 3 January. Brewery Arts in Kendal has PaddleBoat Theatre's The Elves & The Shoemaker for ages three and up from Saturday 19 to Monday 28 December. At the Victoria Wood Theatre in Bowness — the theatre at the World of Beatrix Potter, renamed from the Old Laundry — The Gingerbread Boy runs Saturday 19 to Thursday 24 December and Tomte's Yuletide Tale, a Nordic puppet show, Monday 28 December to Saturday 2 January. Theatre by the Lake ///chapters.mysteries.junior · Brewery Arts ///waddle.army.plant · Victoria Wood Theatre ///enrolling.muffin.nuzzled

Don't go expecting

What's closed

Wray Castle on the west shore of Windermere is closed for refurbishment until 2027; the grounds and café are open, but don't go expecting the house. The Windermere Christmas Market on Victoria Street — the volunteer-run village one — is not running in 2026. And Ambleside's fireworks are not happening this year; the switch-on parade is.

Fifteen minutes up the road

Carlisle Christmas market and city lights

Carlisle's market square at dusk after rain, the wet paving reflecting a large illuminated Merry Christmas Carlisle sign with white stars above the shops, the market cross on the left and a lit Christmas tree beyond
The Greenmarket after the switch-on — the Merry Christmas Carlisle sign over the square, the market cross on the left.

I'm fifteen minutes up the road from Carlisle, and the photographs in this section are mine. The lights go on outside the Old Town Hall on Sunday 15 November 2026: school choirs and dance groups from three o'clock, the switch-on itself at five, and a headline act afterwards. The night before, Saturday 14 November, Carlisle Racecourse hosts a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer drone light show — the first time one has come to Cumbria, with fairground rides and food stalls from the afternoon; it's ticketed, so book through the racecourse. The Christmas market usually opens on the same weekend as the lights, on English Street and the Greenmarket, and runs into the following week; the council hadn't published 2026 dates when this page went up, so check before you travel. There's a Christmas Community Raceday at the racecourse on Sunday 13 December as well.

And if you've ever wondered what the Greenmarket is: it's the paved square in front of the Old Town Hall, re-laid in 2025, and it's where Carlisle's weekly open-air market sets up every Friday. The Victorian Market Hall is the separate covered market in the city centre; check its own days before you go.

Cumberland Council — the switch-on · Discover Carlisle — drone show · Discover Carlisle — markets ///snacks.forks.cubs

Common questions

Christmas in the Lakes, answered

Where is the most Christmassy place in the Lake District?
Keswick. It has a Victorian fayre in the market place, a lights night in the town centre, A Christmas Carol at the theatre on the lake, and Honister's underground grotto and Lodore's festive lunches within twenty minutes. No other town in the Lakes puts that much of Christmas in one place.
Are there any Christmas markets in Cumbria?
Yes — around a dozen between the first weekend of November and the second weekend of December, from Holker's Winter Market in the south to Carlisle's city-centre market in the north. The markets section on this page lists every one with its date or, where the organiser hasn't announced yet, a plain note saying so.
Does Windermere have a Christmas market?
The Glebe in Bowness holds a regular Sunday market through the year, and it has run a Christmas edition in past years, but nothing has been announced for 2026 as of 15 September. The separate volunteer-run Windermere Christmas Market in the village is not running this year. (Checked 15 September 2026 — we'll update if that changes.)
Does Ambleside have a Christmas market?
Yes, for one day: the Christmas market runs through the town on the lights switch-on Saturday in November, alongside the Santa cruises from Waterhead and the evening parade. There isn't a separate multi-day Ambleside Christmas market. This year's date is in the lights section above.
Has Carlisle got a Christmas market?
Yes. Carlisle's Christmas market runs on English Street and the Greenmarket, usually opening on the weekend of the lights switch-on in mid-November and continuing into the following week. The Carlisle section above has this year's switch-on date and will carry the market dates once the council publishes them.
What date is Keswick Christmas market?
The Keswick Victorian Fayre is held on the first Sunday of December each year, in the Market Place and Packhorse Court. This year's date is in the markets section above.
Is the Lake District good at Christmas?
Yes, with two honest caveats: the days are short, and it is often wet. In return you get quiet fells, lit-up market towns, log fires in every pub, and a run of markets, Santa trains and light trails from early November to New Year. Mid-week in early December is the sweet spot — everything is open and nowhere is full.
Does it snow in the Lake District at Christmas?
Sometimes on the tops, rarely in the valleys. A white Christmas at lake level is unusual; a white Skiddaw or Helvellyn over Christmas week is common. Plan for rain and treat snow as a bonus.
Is the Lake District busy at Christmas?
Christmas week itself is busy in Keswick, Ambleside and Bowness, and the light trails and Santa trains sell out weeks ahead. Weekends in late November and early December are the market weekends and fill up too. Mid-week before Christmas is quiet.
Is there anywhere open on Christmas Day?
For lunch, yes — a handful of hotels and pubs, all pre-booked, listed above. Attractions, railways and theatres are closed on the day. The fells and lakeshores are open, and the first things to reopen are the Lights of Lowther on 27 December and the railways and theatres on the 28th.
What is the best Santa experience in Cumbria?
The Santa Express on the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway: elf storytelling at Ravenglass, a steam train up Eskdale to Dalegarth, and Father Christmas waiting at the top — the railway runs three different festive trains and this is the one to book. If you want the unusual one instead, Honister's grotto is underground in a working slate mine at the top of the pass, and it sells out first.

Keep exploring

The towns behind the dates

Things to do in Keswick

The most Christmassy town in the Lakes, and everything else it does the rest of the year.

Things to do in Ambleside

Lights day, the Santa cruises from Waterhead, and the town guide.

Things to do in Penrith

Lowther Castle, Rheged and the town the Lights of Lowther are four miles from.

Eskdale

The valley the Santa Express steams up — and Muncaster at the bottom of it.