Butser's Midwinter's Magical Quest is 5 and 6 December, from £11.50 a child. Father Christmas is £12 extra on the 12 to 20 December weekends. Every date.

Butser Ancient Farm, the reconstructed prehistoric, Roman and Saxon farm on Chalton Lane south of Petersfield, has published its whole Christmas 2026 programme. The two big family dates are Midwinter’s Magical Quest on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December and two festive weekends between 12 and 20 December, when Father Christmas is an add-on at £12 a child. Every date and price below was read on 25 October 2026 from the farm’s own event pages (Butser Ancient Farm, Christmas 2026).

The quick answer

  • Is Christmas on at Butser this year? Yes. The farm has listed every event with dates, times and prices, and booking is open.
  • Midwinter’s Magical Quest: Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December, 10am to 3pm, last entry 1.30pm. Children £11.50, adults £19.50, family £52.50. No Father Christmas: it is a folklore trail with the Holly King and the Deer Queen.
  • Father Christmas: on the festive weekends from Saturday 12 to Sunday 20 December, 10am to 3pm. General admission is £9.50 a child, £14.50 an adult, £40.50 a family, and the Father Christmas trail and visit is £12 a child on top, booked as a time slot.
  • Evenings: a festive shopping evening (27 November), a harp concert (3 December), family storytelling (4 December) and a ghost-story night (18 December, already sold out).
  • Getting there: free parking on site. Dogs are not allowed at special events, apart from assistance dogs.
Event Date Price
Festive Shopping Evening Fri 27 Nov, 5pm to 7pm £2 for a fireside drink and mince pie
Hedgerow Wreath Making Sat 28 Nov and Sat 5 Dec, 10am to 12pm £40
Harp Songs for a Winter’s Night Thu 3 Dec, 7pm to 9pm £20.50
Tales of Winter Magic Fri 4 Dec, 5.30pm to 7.30pm Child £11, adult £19.50, family £49
Midwinter’s Magical Quest Sat 5 and Sun 6 Dec, 10am to 3pm Child £11.50, adult £19.50, family £52.50
Tree Ornament Workshop Sat 5, Tue 8 and Sat 12 Dec, 10am to 1pm £40
Festive weekends, with Father Christmas 12 to 20 Dec, 10am to 3pm Child £9.50, adult £14.50, plus £12 for Father Christmas
Saxon Cookery Workshop Sun 13 Dec, 10am to 3.45pm £85
The Horns of Yule Fri 18 Dec, 7pm to 9pm £20.50, sold out

Midwinter’s Magical Quest: 5 and 6 December

This is Butser’s alternative to a grotto. Families walk a trail through the farm’s ancient buildings and meet characters from history and folklore: Felix, “the cheeky slave celebrating Saturnalia”, the Holly King and the Deer Queen. There is a Roman Saturnalia, stories in a “Realm of Winter Wishes”, a visit to the Deer Queen’s Grotto, and make-and-take crafts in each house (Butser Ancient Farm).

Times. The farm is open from 10am to 3pm, with last entry at 1.30pm. There are no timed slots. The quest takes about two hours, and you can only go round it once on a ticket, so do not rush the early stops.

Prices. Children £11.50, adults £19.50, family £52.50. Carers go free: book the other tickets as normal, then email the farm with your order number and the evidence it lists on the event page.

What it is not. Father Christmas is not part of the quest. The farm bills it as “an inclusive celebration of the winter season” for families whether they celebrate Yule, Christmas or the solstice. For Father Christmas, come on the festive weekends instead.

Father Christmas: festive weekends, 12 to 20 December

The farm runs “two weekends this December” of relaxed winter family days, listed from Saturday 12 to Sunday 20 December. Your ticket gets you round the farm from 10am to 3pm (last entry 1.30pm), with the reconstructed buildings, seasonal crafts and the rare-breed sheep and goats (Butser Ancient Farm).

Tickets. General admission is £9.50 a child, £14.50 an adult, £40.50 a family. You can buy at the gate if there is space, but the farm recommends booking. Butser annual pass holders get general admission included.

Meeting Father Christmas costs £12 a child extra. Children follow a trail of clues to help him “find his way home”, then have a 10-minute meet and greet with him in his woodland home, dressed in a traditional green cloak. They toast a marshmallow by the fire and get a small gift. Two rules matter:

  • It is an add-on, not a standalone booking. You need general admission for the same day.
  • You must book a time slot. The farm says spaces are limited and it cannot promise any on the day.

At £12 on top of a £9.50 child ticket, a child’s visit with Father Christmas costs £21.50 before the adults’ tickets. For comparison, our Father Christmas near Petersfield page has the Watercress Line’s train, Queen Elizabeth Country Park’s grotto and Stansted House.

Evenings and workshops

Festive Shopping Evening, Friday 27 November, 5pm to 7pm. The farm shop opens late for mead, handmade jewellery, ancient craft kits, books and stocking fillers. For £2 a head you can then sit by the fire in the decorated ancient house with a warm drink and a mince pie. The shop’s takings fund the farm’s research and education work (Butser Ancient Farm).

Hedgerow Wreath Making, Saturday 28 November and Saturday 5 December, 10am to 12pm, £40. Heritage craftsperson Kat Wootton leads two hours in the Saxon meadhall, with locally grown clematis, holly and ivy cut just before the session, and a dram of mead at the break. It is for adults, though over-16s can come; under-18s need an adult with them, and that adult pays the site entrance fee (28 November, 5 December).

Harp Songs for a Winter’s Night, Thursday 3 December, 7pm to 9pm, £20.50. Harpist Keziah Thomas plays a solo pedal harp programme of carols, Celtic melodies and winter classics in the Great Roundhouse (Butser Ancient Farm).

Tales of Winter Magic, Friday 4 December, 5.30pm to 7.30pm. An after-school evening of family storytelling round the Great Roundhouse fire with storyteller Red Phoenix, with a chance for children to join a pantomime play. Child £11, adult £19.50, family £49. A bar serves drinks (Butser Ancient Farm).

Tree Ornament Workshop, Saturday 5, Tuesday 8 and Saturday 12 December, 10am to 1pm, £40. Plaiting straw into corn dolly decorations for the tree; the farm says it is beginner friendly (Butser Ancient Farm).

Saxon Cookery Workshop, Sunday 13 December, 10am to 3.45pm, £85. Craig Brooks, author of Eat Like a Viking!, cooks sweet Saxon bread, nettle and wild garlic soup and meadowsweet mead, eaten in the Saxon hall. Adults only (Butser Ancient Farm).

The Horns of Yule, Friday 18 December, 7pm to 9pm, £20.50: sold out. Jason Buck’s winter ghost-story show round the Iron Age roundhouse fire, for ages 11 and up, was already listed as sold out on 25 October (Butser Ancient Farm).

Getting there and parking

Butser Ancient Farm is on Chalton Lane, PO8 0BG, south of Petersfield near Chalton and Clanfield. Parking is free, on hardstanding and in a field, and the farm asks visitors to share cars where they can (Butser Ancient Farm, plan your visit).

Without a car. The nearest station is Petersfield. The farm says it is on the number 37 bus from Petersfield to Clanfield: get off by the Hampshire Hog pub in Clanfield and walk about 20 minutes along the road. Check the bus times before you go, especially on December weekends, and our roadworks and travel page for closures on the way. If you are starting from the town centre, parking in Petersfield has the car parks near the station.

Dress for it. Everything is outdoors or in unheated ancient buildings with open fires. The farm says it can be chilly in winter and asks for sensible footwear.

Dogs. Well-behaved dogs on leads are normally welcome, but not at special events, which covers the Christmas programme; assistance dogs are the exception.

Normal opening this winter

Outside the special events, Butser opens on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays, 10am to 4pm (last admission 2.30pm), and Wednesday to Sunday in Hampshire school holidays. Standard admission is £15.50 an adult, £10.50 a child aged 3 to 16, £41.50 for two adults and two children, with £1 off each ticket booked online. Note that the Christmas events above run to their own hours, 10am to 3pm, and their own prices.

For everything else on around Petersfield in the next six weeks, see what’s on in Petersfield.