Hoole's lights switch-on is Saturday 14 November, 12pm to 6pm at Hoole Community Centre: lights on around 5pm, advance tickets £5 adults, £3 under-16s.
Hoole’s Christmas lights go on at around 5pm on Saturday 14 November, at the end of an afternoon of music, stalls, Santa and children’s activities at Hoole Community Centre on Westminster Road. The event runs from 12pm to 6pm, and advance tickets are £5 for adults and £3 for under-16s.
It is the second year the switch-on has been held at the community centre rather than on Faulkner Street and Charles Street, a move the volunteer committee made after the street event grew past its safe limit. Ticket sales pay towards the cost of the lights.
“We’re back for our second year with even more festive fun for the family!” the centre said in its announcement. “Gather your favourite people, dig out your Christmas jumpers and come and help us light up Hoole!”
What is on
The centre lists live music and local choirs, stalls, festive food and drink, a bar and mulled wine, and for children:
- Elf Academy, where, according to the Hoole Lights 2026 page, young recruits face “Naughty or Nice” questions, a Snowball Challenge and an “Elf Final Exam” obstacle course that ends with delivering a present
- Santa’s grotto
- a Christmas post box “for those all-important wish lists”
- marshmallow toasting
- a Kidz Quiz (the poster calls it a family quiz)
- the Christmas Jumper Parade, which the centre says “everyone’s welcome to join in”
The Hoole Lights page adds Christmas arts and crafts, festive games, a Christmas Wish Wall and an elf-themed hunt around the centre. Performers and timings are still to be announced: “We’ll be sharing more information about performers and timings as the event gets closer,” the organisers say.
A quieter first hour
The first hour, 12pm to 1pm, is set aside for children who find crowds hard. The centre says it will have “quieter music, a calmer grotto and crafting activities for children who might find the crowds overwhelming.”
Santa’s grotto is paid on the day
The grotto is not included in the entry ticket. The organisers say it “will operate on a pay-on-the-day basis”, with no booking, and that prices and visiting arrangements will be announced closer to the day. Their advice if there is a queue: “Santa suggests to visit the rest of the activities throughout the day!”
Tickets
| Advance | On the day | |
|---|---|---|
| Adults | £5 | £6 |
| Under-16s | £3 | £3.50 |
| Young children | Free | Free |
The poster and the centre’s announcement say children under 4 go free; the Hoole Lights 2026 page says under 5, so check when you book if you have a four-year-old.
Tickets are sold online through TicketSource, through hoolelights.co.uk or in person at the centre office. Everyone who goes gets a wristband which, the centre says, gives “access to exclusive discounts at participating local businesses”. The event finishes at 6pm, and the centre suggests making an evening of it in one of the Hoole bars and restaurants afterwards.
“Every penny from ticket sales helps keep Hoole’s Christmas lights shining throughout the festive season,” it says.
Why it moved off the street
The Hoole Christmas Lights group says it has been putting up lights in Hoole for more than 25 years, and that the lights and the celebration now cost more than £10,000 a year, covering the displays, installation, insurance and safety requirements.
In a statement on the group’s website from 2025, Cllr Richard Beacham, who has helped with the lights for almost ten years alongside Cllr Adam Langan, the committee’s chair, explained why the switch-on left Faulkner Street and Charles Street. The event had grown past its agreed attendance limit, he wrote, and the committee had no way to control numbers on an open street:
“Last year I remember standing on the stage looking down the street to a sea of faces. We had lost children, crushing at the stage, people standing in Hoole Road as they couldn’t get on to the street. For the committee, who are liable for anything that goes wrong, there is a feeling that these are warning signs.”
Running a ticketed event at the community centre, he wrote, meant “we can run a safer event and raise the money on the night to pay for the costs of the lights going up and on.”
The group’s 2026 page credits the centre for making that possible: “Without their support, putting on an event of this scale simply wouldn’t be possible.” The centre is run by Hoole Community Development Trust, registered charity 1157709.
The group has also published a short fly-through of the lights over Faulkner Street and Charles Street after dark.
Want to help?
The Hoole Christmas Lights group meets next on Wednesday 28 October at 7pm in the library at Hoole Community Centre, and says everyone is welcome, “whether you’d like to get involved in the planning, share ideas or volunteer to help out on the day.” Anyone who cannot make it can email chair@hoolelights.co.uk.
What it means for you
- When: Saturday 14 November, 12pm to 6pm; the lights go on around 5pm.
- Where: Hoole Community Centre, Westminster Road, Hoole, Chester CH2 3AP, per the centre. The entrance is through the car park.
- Cost: book ahead and it is £5 for adults and £3 for under-16s, against £6 and £3.50 on the day. The grotto is extra, paid on the day.
- Bringing a child who struggles with noise? Go for the first hour, 12pm to 1pm.
For the city centre, Chester’s own Christmas lights come on with the 12 Days of Christmas Parade rather than a single switch-on, and there are more places to meet Father Christmas in our Chester Santa’s grotto list.
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