Kick off the festive season with Breakfast with Santa at Oxford Covered Market by enjoying breakfast from any of the Market’s cafés or food stalls, offering everything from cosy pastries to hearty breakfasts in the morning. From 10.00am, Father Christmas will be on hand to meet children, help them write their Christmas letters, and collect them in his special North Pole post box.

Enjoy the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas at Cogges, and meet Father Christmas and his elves in Santa’s Grotto for a special audience with the man himself and a gift for every child. Kids will be able to burn off energy and boogie away to festive tunes at the Christmas Disco and take part in a whole host of exciting Christmas Craft Activities in the Party and Craft Barn.  

Steam Into Christmas and help Santa find his missing reindeer! Explore the 21-acre site to find each of Santa’s lost reindeer, culminating in a visit to the grotto to meet Santa. Grab your tickets, make tracks to Didcot Railway Centre and Steam Into Christmas!

In Victorian times, Santa travelled by a sleigh pulled by reindeer. More recently, he’s also well known to have travelled by steam train, but now he’s hopping onboard a vintage Oxford bus. Visit Father Christmas in his bus grotto while enjoying a complimentary vintage bus ride on Sunday 14 and Sunday 21 December.

The festival has been taking place since 2009. It’s evolved over the years from a single evening’s event in the city centre to a full three day weekend that includes light and sound installations, a festive market, music, dance and lots of free activities in venues across the city, and more recently to light trails and events in residential areas of the city.

Christmas at Blenheim Palace returns bigger, brighter, and more magical than ever. Featuring dazzling new installations, festive food, and the chance to see Father Christmas, the Illuminated Trail transforms the palace gardens into a spectacular wonderland of light, colour, and Christmas cheer.

The Kidlington Christmas lights switch-on event usually features local school choirs, local stalls, Santa’s grotto, funfair rides, animal petting corner, concert brass band, hot and cold refreshments and lots more. Hundreds of people turn out for the annual switch-on of the Christmas lights in the High Street and Piazza by Santa.

The town centre will be closed to traffic and filled with stalls and rides for the whole family to enjoy. At 7.00pm, the Mayor will switch on the Christmas tree lights alongside a VIP celebrity guest, the winner of the Christmas card design competition, characters from the Kenton Theatre pantomime. The celebrations will continue with carol singing and festive tunes performed by Woodley Concert Band.

Christmas in Thame begins with the switching on of the town’s Christmas lights. In recent years, the event has been an evening of festive entertainment – with Santa’s Grotto, gift stalls, refreshments, carol singing, and more, and primary schools parading their beautifully created lanterns down the High Street – a sight not to be missed.

Banbury Winter Market will sparkle with festive cheer from Saturday 28 to Sunday 29 November 2026 with over 80 Stalls, live entertainment, the big Light Switch-On, special appearances from the festive Gingerbread Man, Christmas Tree, and live performances from Hook Norton Brass Band, and music from Radio Horton.

Abingdon Christmas Extravaganza kicks off the festive season in Abingdon. It’s a family-focused festive event in the heart of the town where the community comes together as one. Expect a Christmas market on Bath Street, a parade through the town centre, as well as music and other entertainment from the stage on the Market Place and a performance area on Bath Street.

Sprinkled with extra Christmas magic this year, wander through Bicester’s Christmas Shopping Market for sweets, treats, and much more to begin your Christmas festivities, taking place on Saturday 28 November. Join in for a magical day packed with Christmas shopping, festive treats, live entertainment, and the sparkling moment when the town is lit up.

Starting with the Christmas Market from 11.00am, expect a Craft Fair in the Corn Exchange arranged by the Faringdon Art Society, Santa’s Grotto in the Market Place, Market stalls in the Market Place, music around the Christmas Tree and much more. The light switch-on will take place at 5.00pm.

The lantern parade meets at 5.15pm at Carterton Community College. Lights switch on at 6.00pm in the Market Square. Expect live music, stalls with crafts, gifts and refreshments, funfair rides, meet the Reindeer, a snow globe and, of course, And, of course, Father Christmas will be in his grotto.

This family-focused festive event in the heart of the town brings the community together as one to kick off the festive season. The event will start at noon with activities and festive stalls to enjoy. There will be lantern-making workshops during the day, followed by a lantern parade after dark. The festive lights will be switched on by the Town Mayor at 6.00pm.

The Banbury Christmas Lights Switch On is a family-focused festive event in the heart of the town where the community comes together as one to kick off the festive season. Enjoy thrilling funfair rides, great food, and a stellar line-up of musical acts and performers, all the before the grand finale where the lights are switched on to a blast of fireworks!

Wantage Dickensian Evening is held on the first Friday of December every year in and around Wantage Market Place, and everyone is invited to dress up in period costumes. Enjoy Christmas attractions and start your holiday shopping, including switch-on of the Christmas lights, Christmas carols with Wantage Silver Band and the Parish Church Choir, childrens’ activities and much more.

Christmas at Silverstone will transform the home of the British Grand Prix into a spectacular festive wonderland. This year’s celebration will bring together exhilarating motorsport experiences, immersive family entertainment, live music, festive food and drink, and the unmistakable magic of Silverstone. At the heart of the event is Lap of Lights, the only festive experience in the world where visitors can drive an iconic Formula 1 circuit after dark.

Residents and visitors are warmly invited to a Night of a Thousand Candles in Woodstock. Come see the Christmas lights switched on and enjoy a great family event to start the festive season. See Woodstock at its best with late shopping, great restaurants and pubs, the Woodstock Festive Fayre, live music, a short panto (oh yes, there is!), school choir, food and drink and Father Christmas.