Alton's Christmas lights switch-on and market is on Friday 27 November 2026, 3pm to 7pm, on the High Street, Market Street and in the Assembly Rooms.

The quick answer

Alton’s Christmas lights switch-on and market is on Friday 27 November 2026, 3pm to 7pm, on the High Street, Market Street and in the Assembly Rooms. That date and those hours come from Alton Town Council’s own events 2026 page. The running order, the switch-on times and the road closure for 2026 have not been published yet; in 2025 they appeared on the council’s site two days before the event.

The 2026 date is confirmed

Alton Town Council publishes its year of events as a list of date panels. The November panel reads: “Christmas Light Switch On and Market, High Street, Market Street and Assembly Rooms, 3:00pm to 7:00pm”, dated 27 November. In 2026 that is a Friday, which fits the pattern of the last two years:

Year Date Hours
2024 Friday 22 November Evening event, two switch-ons
2025 Friday 21 November 3pm to 7pm
2026 Friday 27 November 3pm to 7pm

Note that 2026 is a week later in the month than the last two years. If you remember “the Friday before the last one”, you will be a week early.

It also lands on the same evening that Petersfield’s own switch-on has been held for the past two years, the last Friday in November. Petersfield has not confirmed its 2026 date; our Petersfield switch-on page has the detail.

What the evening looked like in 2025

The council has not published the 2026 programme. Its 2025 announcement, posted on 19 November 2025, is the best guide to the shape of the night:

  • Two switch-ons. Lights on at the Assembly Rooms at 5pm, then in Market Square at 5.45pm. The council has run two since 2024.
  • Father Christmas, free, at 16 Market Square from 3pm to 7pm, with no registration. The council said it would do its best to accommodate children with SEND, and asked families to wear a lanyard or tell the elves.
  • A Christmas market of stalls in the Assembly Rooms, on the High Street, in Cross and Pillory Lane and, new that year, Market Street. The council’s write-up of the 2024 event put the stallholders at over 60.
  • A family funfair down the centre of the High Street, from M&S to Cross and Pillory Lane.
  • Stilt walkers dressed as a Christmas tree and an angel, plus Alton Morris dancing at the bottom of Cross and Pillory Lane and Market Street.
  • A quiet space in the Assembly Rooms for children or adults who need a break.

The 2025 stage line-up was Alton Rock Choir, King’s Pond Shantymen, Tilly Lukeman Vocals, Forest Players, The Butts Primary School, YEM Theatre School, Encore Choir and Stagecoach Farnham and Alton. The 2026 performers have not been named.

Road closure

In 2025 the council gave notice of a road closure from 11am to 10pm on the day, covering the High Street from the junction with Lady Place car park (the M&S end) to the mini roundabout at Normandy Street and Church Street, plus Market Street, Market Square, Cross and Pillory Lane and Turk Street. It asked drivers to clear the laybys before the closure started, because the funfair and stalls go in as soon as the road shuts.

The 2026 closure hours have not been published. Expect a similar all-day closure on Friday 27 November, and check our roadworks and travel page before driving through the town that day.

Parking

In 2025 East Hampshire District Council gave free parking from 3pm in its Alton car parks for the switch-on. The town council warned that only the district council’s designated car parks were free, and that other car parks and on-street spaces still charged as normal.

Free parking has not been announced for 2026. Until it is, assume the normal district tariff applies. Our parking page covers the same district council’s charges in Petersfield.

The Christmas trail afterwards

In December 2025 the town council also ran a Christmas trail: 11 Christmas globe pictures in shop windows, each hiding a letter, with entries returned to the Town Hall by early January for a prize (Alton Town Council). Trail maps were available from 1 December. Nothing has been announced for 2026 yet.

Still to be confirmed

The 2026 switch-on times, the stage line-up, who turns the lights on, Father Christmas’s grotto, the funfair, the road closure order and free parking. In 2025 the council posted the full programme on 19 November, so expect the 2026 detail in the week before. This page will be updated then.