Christmas in Chester: The Market Opens 18 November, and the Parades Follow

Christmas in Chester 2026 starts when the Christmas Market opens in Town Hall Square on Wednesday 18 November, followed by the 12 Days of Christmas Parade at 7pm on Thursday 19 November and the Storyhouse panto, Rapunzel, from Friday 4 December. Below are the three dates that shape the season, then every Christmas page we have for the city and the district, grouped by what you want to do.

The three dates to plan around

1. Wednesday 18 November: the market opens. About 80 traders around the city tree in Town Hall Square, free to walk in, open 10.30am to 6.30pm Sunday to Wednesday and to 8pm Thursday to Saturday, until Tuesday 22 December. It is not open on Christmas Eve. Our Chester Christmas Market page has the bollard times, the toilets and the last buses.
2. Thursday 19 November, 7pm: the 12 Days of Christmas Parade. Chester has no switch-on ceremony; the lights come on street by street as the parade walks from Bridge Street to Watergate Street. Three more parades follow on Thursdays: the Lantern Parade on 26 November, and the Winter Watch on 3 and 10 December, with the Roman Saturnalia joining it at 6.15pm on the 10th. See our Christmas lights page.
3. Friday 4 December: Rapunzel opens at Storyhouse. It runs to Sunday 3 January, captioned at every performance, from £19.50. Our Chester panto page lists every performance.

Every Thursday from 19 November to 17 December is late-night shopping, and the park and ride runs late on those nights, with the last buses from Foregate Street at about 9pm (council, 12 November 2026).

See

• Christmas lights and the four parades: Thursdays 19 and 26 November, 3 and 10 December
• The Winter Watch parade: Thursday 3 and Thursday 10 December, 7pm, from Town Hall Square
• Chester Cathedral Christmas Tree Festival: 25 November to 3 January, free on Sundays
• Chester Cathedral’s Christmas services: Lessons and Carols at 6pm on 23 and 24 December, no tickets needed
• Lanterns and Light at Chester Zoo: evenings from 13 November to 3 January
• Hoole Christmas lights switch-on: Saturday 14 November at Hoole Community Centre
• Northwich Christmas Extravaganza: Saturday 21 November

Do

• Santa grottos in and around Chester: Grotto on the Square at Eastgate Square from 20 November, the Town Hall grotto on 12, 13, 19 and 20 December, and brunch with Santa at the cathedral
• Santa boat trips at the National Waterways Museum from 5 December and at Anderton from 19 December
• Chester panto: Rapunzel at Storyhouse, plus the Northwich and Ellesmere Port pantos
• Chester Santa Dash: Sunday 6 December, 10am, from Handbridge
• Ice skating at Oaks on Ice, Cheshire Oaks, to 3 January
• Boxing Day walks near Chester, from the city walls to Moel Famau
• New Year’s Eve in Chester: the ticketed parties and the last trains home

Eat

• Christmas dinner in Chester: pubs and hotels with 2026 set menus and their booking rules

Shop

• Chester Christmas Market: 18 November to 22 December
• Christmas shopping in Chester: independents on and off the Rows
• Late-night shopping and the late park and ride: five Thursdays, 19 November to 17 December
• Where to buy a real Christmas tree near Chester

Travel and bins

• Christmas trains from Chester: no trains on Christmas Day
• Roadworks stop for Christmas: non-essential works halted from 15 November to 10 January
• Christmas bin collections: the council publishes its 2026 changes in December; garden waste stops on 11 December
• Parking in Chester: every car park and what it costs

What is not happening

• No lights switch-on ceremony in the city. The lights come on during the 12 Days of Christmas Parade on 19 November.
• No ice rink in Chester itself. The nearest is Oaks on Ice at Cheshire Oaks.
• No public fireworks on New Year’s Eve have been announced.
• No market on Christmas Eve. Town Hall Square’s market closes on Tuesday 22 December.