Knutsford Christmas Market is Saturday 5 December, 12pm to 6pm, and Sunday 6 December, 11am to 4pm. The lights switch-on is 21 November. Parking here.

Knutsford Christmas Market 2026 is on Saturday 5 December, 12pm to 6pm, and Sunday 6 December, 11am to 4pm. Knutsford Town Council, which runs it, has set both the dates and the trading hours in its 2026 terms for market traders.

The town’s Christmas lights switch-on is a separate event, two weeks earlier, on Saturday 21 November (Knutsford Town Council).

The quick answer

  • Christmas market: Saturday 5 December, 12pm to 6pm, and Sunday 6 December, 11am to 4pm. Over 120 traders a day, on Princess Street and in two town centre car parks.
  • Lights switch-on: Saturday 21 November. The council has not yet published the times; in 2025 the afternoon ran 4pm to 7pm with the switch-on at 6.30pm.
  • Parking: the Princess Street and Silk Mill car parks are part of the market site this year, so they will be full of stalls, not cars. The council’s market page describes a free park and ride shuttle from Booths Hall, WA16 8GS.

The market, 5 and 6 December

The council describes the market as “the staple event of the festive programme in Knutsford”: more than 120 traders selling artisan food, drink, art, crafts and gifts, with Santa’s grotto, live entertainment and a funfair (Christmas in Knutsford).

Day Hours
Saturday 5 December 12pm to 6pm
Sunday 6 December 11am to 4pm

For 2026 the stalls will be spread across three sites, according to the council’s trader application page:

  • Princess Street
  • Princess Street car park, behind Waitrose
  • Silk Mill car park, for the food vendors

That is a change from 2025, when traders were spread across Princess Street, King Street and Silk Mill Street. Saturday also runs an hour later than last year: the 2025 market was 12 noon to 5pm on the Saturday and 11am to 4pm on the Sunday (Knutsford Town Council, October 2025).

Entry is free; the council has never charged for the market and publishes no ticket for it. Santa’s grotto times for 2026 are not out yet. In 2025 the grotto was hosted by Knutsford Methodist Church, 11am to 3pm on the Saturday and 12pm to 3pm on the Sunday.

One thing not to confuse it with: the council’s trader terms point out that this is not the Knutsford Makers Market, which is run by a different team.

The lights switch-on, 21 November

The council confirms the date, Saturday 21 November, and that the switch-on and the market “will continue to be separate events”, as they were for the first time in 2025. Its Christmas page says the switch-on is preceded by “an afternoon of live entertainment from local musicians, dance troupes, performers and choirs”, with Santa arriving through the town before heading to Canute Place, and that the Lantern Parade is returning in 2026. How to take part in the lantern parade has not been announced.

No 2026 running order has been published. The 2025 one, from the council’s own announcement, gives a fair idea of the shape:

Time (2025) What happened
4pm Live entertainment starts in Canute Place, hosted by Silk FM
6pm Santa Parade leaves from outside The Lost & Found and travels along Princess Street to Canute Place
6.30pm The Mayor switches on the lights
7pm Event ends

In 2025 the lights were switched on by the town mayor, Cllr Bryan Hartley, with Father Christmas, the Grinch and the Knutsford Royal May Queen, and the Santa Parade was led by the City of Chester Brass Band (Knutsford Town Council, November 2025).

Parking and getting there

The market takes over two of the town’s car parks this year, Princess Street (behind Waitrose) and Silk Mill, so expect the remaining town centre spaces to fill early on both days.

The council’s market page says a free park and ride shuttle has run since 2018 from Booths Hall, WA16 8GS, to Knutsford bus station “for the duration of the market weekend”, to take pressure off the town centre car parks. It has not separately confirmed 2026’s shuttle times, so check the council’s page or its Facebook before you rely on it.

The council has not published any road closures for either event yet. Princess Street is the heart of both, so assume it will be shut to traffic while the market is set up and trading, and while the Santa Parade runs on 21 November.

Coming from Macclesfield, check our roadworks and travel page before you set off, and our parking in Macclesfield guide if you are making a day of it with Macclesfield’s own Christmas markets, which fall on 29 November and 20 December.

The rest of Christmas in Knutsford

The council’s third Christmas event is the Community Crib Service, at the town crib on Princess Street opposite The Lost & Found. It starts at 3.30pm and is led by the Mayor’s Chaplain, with carols from St Vincent’s school choir and the City of Chester Brass Band, and mulled wine and mince pies from the Knutsford Catenians. It moves into Knutsford Methodist Church if the weather is bad. The 2026 date has not been published.

Just outside the town, Tatton Park’s Christmas season runs from mid-November, and our Santa’s grotto page lists the grottos across the area. For other towns’ switch-ons, including Wilmslow’s on the same day, see our Christmas lights page.

Sources

Checked on 30 September 2026. The switch-on times, grotto times and road closures are still to come: we will update this page when the council publishes them.