27 Festive Christmas Events in Essex UK 2024

Christmas in Essex is always a fun time of year, with many businesses having Christmas Events. From Christmas Markets to festival train rides and more, there are lots of options to pick from. In this post I share a selection of Christmas things to do in Essex in 2024!

Disclosure: I am currently in the process of updating for 2024. I do my best to try and keep information up-to-date but please check direct with businesses for current opening times and prices.

Christmas Events in Essex

Markets | Light Trails | Train Rides | Zoos & Farms | Pantomimes | Events

Christmas Markets and Shops

German Market at Meadow Croft Garden Centre

🗺Woodham Rd, Battlesbridge, Rettendon Place, Wickford, SS11 7QU

One of my favourite things to do at Christmas is to visit a Christmas market! I personally love the German market at Meadow Croft Garden Centre in Battlesbridge. It opens in mid-September and runs through to December. As well as the stalls, there are traditional German foods and drinks on offer.

Essex Christmas Shopping Fair

🗺Cressing Temple Barns, Witham, Essex CM77 8PD

📅8th – 10th Nov 2024

💰Adults: £7 | Concessions: £6 | Children: Free

Held at Cressing Temple Barns, just outside of Braintree, is the Essex Christmas Shopping Fair. It takes place across one weekend in the middle of November. There are over 100 vendors selling a wide range of products that are great for Christmas gifts.

I went in 2021 and ended up buying things mostly for myself (🙈), including a bottle of salted caramel rum and a giant cake from the Donut Bar! Many of the stands that sell food or drink products have free samples too.

As well as the food, drink and shopping vendors, the grounds are open to walk around, including the historic barns and the Walled Garden.

Perrywood

🗺Kelvedon Road, Tiptree, Inworth, Colchester, CO5 9SX

Several other garden centres in Essex also have Christmas displays. Perrywood in Tiptree has themed displays every year. In 2022 the theme is ‘Step Back In Time’ starting from the 1800s and going up to the 1980s! Perrywood doesn’t have a Santa’s Grotto, but they have various photo opportunities around the shop.

Poplar Nurseries Breakfast With Santa

🗺Poplar Nurseries Ltd, Coggeshall Rd, Marks Tey, Colchester, CO6 1HR

📅Breakfast With Santa TBA

💰Adults: | Child:

Poplar Nurseries in Marks Tey has another great Christmas department. In the week before Christmas they are running their ‘Breakfast With Santa’ event from 8.15am until 10am. All children receive a gift and a real-life baby Christmas tree. There will be festive stories and singing.

Teatime & Breakfast With Santa at Cherry Lane Garden Centre

🗺Coggeshall Rd, Braintree, CM77 8AE

📅Breakfast With Santa – Sunday 8th, 15th & 22th Dec 2024

📅Teatime With Santa – Monday 23rd Dec 2024

💰Adults: £9.99 | Child: £13.99 (food and drink included)

Cherry Lane is another garden centre with a Christmas department. They also have a Breakfast With Santa and Teatime With Santa event. The price includes a gift for every child plus food and drink.

The children’s teatime menu offers meals like fish fingers and chips, sausage and chips, juice or water. Adult meals are various jacket potatoes with fillings and tea or coffee.

Events must be pre-booked in advance. Make sure to filter by location when looking on the websites as some of the other Cherry Lane locations have other events on offer.

Colchester Christmas Market

🗺High St, Colchester CO1 1DN

📅TBA

There are two dates for the Colchester Christmas Market taking place along the High Street. There will be 80 stalls selling festival food, drink and gifts. Along with an opportunity to shop, you’ll find funfair rides, Santa, live music and street performers.

The Essex County Christmas Fair

🗺Layer Marney Tower, East Court, Layer Marney, Colchester, CO5 9US

📅TBA

For one weekend in November, a Christmas Fair is taking place at Layer Marney Tower, just outside Colchester. There will be over 120 stalls, selling gifts and food. Live music takes place on each of the days and Santa will be walking around the fair on Friday and Saturday. You’ll even find a Ferris wheel (for an additional fee)!

Christmas Lights in Essex

Enlightened

🗺Highlands Estate, Greenbury Way Entrance, Chelmsford, CM2 8WQ | Castle Park, Colchester CO1 1UD | Markshall Estate, Coggeshall, Colchester CO6 1TG

📅29th Nov 2024 – 4th Jan 2025 (Markshall Estate & Castle Park opens: 6th Dec)

💰Adults: from £12.50 | Child: from £9

Returning to Hylands Park is Enlightened, an outdoor light trail running from 29th November 2024 until 4th January 2025. Tickets are pre-booked online in advance.

In 2024 there are 2 further Essex light trails, one at Castle Park in Colchester and another at Markshall Estate in Coggeshall. These two locations will be open throughout December until 24th December.

The light trails are approximately 1 mile long and take 1 hour to walk around.

Glow at Hyde Hall

🗺Creephedge Ln, Chelmsford, CM3 8ET

📅22nd Nov 2024 – 28th Dec 2024 | 5pm – 9pm

💰FROM Non Member Adults: £13.95 | Child: £7.45

Another light trail is Glow at RHS Hyde Hall. Glow 2024 is open from 22nd November 2024 until 28th December 2024 between 5pm – 9pm. It’s not open daily, so check the website for information. Tickets must be pre-booked in advance.

The trail goes around several of the different gardens at Hyde Hall. Traditional festive food and drink is available for purchase.

Nayling Road Lights in Braintree (Free)

🗺Nayling Road, Braintree, CM7 2RY

I wrote a whole post about the Nayling Road Christmas Lights! There is a street in Braintree where a large percentage of the houses all decorate for Christmas and raise money for charity.

There’s one house that creates a music light show which is awesome! One year it was Baby Shark and another was dedicated to Keith Flint where they played Firestarter by The Prodigy. Switch on is December 1st.

Christmas Train Rides

Epping Ongar Christmas Train and Lights Express

🗺North Weald Station, CM16 6BT

📅Nov 2024 – Jan 2025 dates vary depending the event

💰Price varies depending on event

The Epping Ongar Railway has a couple of different Christmas events running. Santa’s Special Trains run weekends from 23rd November and throughout December and then weekdays between 19th December to 24th December.

All children receive a gift from Santa, included within the ticket price.

Running on various dates between November 2024 until mid-January 2025 are the Epping Ongar Lights Express trains. Both the steam and diesel trains are decorated with hundreds of Christmas lights as well as a light display along the route. New to 2024 are LED wristbands that are synchronised to the music!

There are 3 departures most evenings, either 17.00, 18.30 or 20.0. Santa is not on the Lights Express journeys.

Both events use the same trains, however, the lights are only illuminated on the Light Express rides.

Audley End Christmas Special

🗺Audley End Rd, Audley End, Saffron Walden, CB11 4JB

📅21st Nov – 24th Dec 2024

💰Adults and Children over 92cm: £29.50 – £40 | Children under 92cm: £14.75 – £20

The Audley End Christmas Special is always a popular Christmas event in Essex! Visitors board the Santa Express to Father Christmas’ Winter Wonderland. Here, children receive a gift and watch a special Christmas dance.

Ticket prices also include letter writing to Santa at the North Pole Post Office and reindeer food making. Booking in advance is a must and tickets do sell out!

Colne Valley Railway Santa Special

🗺Colne Valley Railway, Castle Hedingham, CO9 3DZ

📅30th Nov – 24th Dec 2024 (dates vary) | 10am – 4pm

💰£25 per person (children under 3: £10)

Colne Valley Railway Santa Special has a Santa’s Grotto. After meeting Father Christmas, board the diesel train to Santa’s Toy Shop to collect a present. Time slots last for 30 minutes.

Festival Day Out With Thomas at East Anglian Railway Museum

🗺Chappel & Wakes Colne Station, Station Road, Wakes Colne, Colchester, C06 2DS

📅TBA | 10am – 4.30pm

💰Adults: | Child: (2-17yrs): | Add on Santa Visit:

The Festival Day Out With Thomas is similar to the usual Day Out With Thomas events, but with the addition on a visit to Santa. Tickets are valid for a 3-hour time slot in which you can have unlimited rides behind Thomas, Percy and Daisy.

The journey is 1/3 of a mile. A visit to Santa is an additional £7 per child. This is added at the checkout. There are several different options to receive an age-appropriate gift. The East Anglian Railway Museum has free parking for 200 cars.

Magic of Christmas at Colchester Zoo

🗺Maldon Rd, Colchester, CO3 0SL

📅Weekends from 23rd Nov 2024 and all week through 19th – 24th Dec 2024

💰Standard Zoo entry tickets required | Santa Experience: an additional £16pp

As well as enjoying all the animals at the zoo, the Magic of Christmas event includes: a Christmas road train, reindeer stables, Elves Workshop with crafts (small cost), storytelling and an enchanted woodland.

For an additional £16 per child the Santa Experience is a journey through Christmas scenes, finishing up with a visit to Santa to receive a gift.

Enchanted Trail of Lights

There is a 2nd Christmas event at Colchester Zoo called the ‘Enchanted Trail of Lights‘. This year it’s a completely separate event to the Magic of Christmas. The main zoo shuts at 4.30pm and will reopen again at 5.30pm. Visitors will be able enjoy the Christmas lights around the zoo on selected dates throughout December. The trail takes approximately 1.5 hours to complete.

Related Reading: 8 Magical Christmas Light Trails in Essex

Father Christmas Experience at Marsh Farm

🗺Marsh Farm, Marsh Farm Rd, South Woodham Ferrers, CM3 5WP

📅16th Nov – 24th Dec 2024 (not 7 days a week)

💰£35 – £75pp depending on day of visit

*Adults without children are not allowed into Marsh Farm*

The Father Christmas Experience at Marsh Farm lasts for approximately 2hr 30. It is quite an expensive event but it is all-inclusive. The ticket includes all the fairground rides, ice skating, seeing Father Christmas, a build-your-own teddy bear, a gift, meeting the animals and more!

Christmas at Ho Ho Hopefield Animal Sanctuary

🗺Sawyer’s Hall Farm, Sawyers Hall Ln, Brentwood CM15 9BZ

📅Weekends from 30th Nov 2024

💰Child: £18.99 | Adult: £9

Every weekend from 30th November, Hopefield Animal Sanctuary in Brentwood is holding the Christmas at Ho Ho Hopefield event.

As well as getting to see the 500+ animals that are at the sanctuary, full-price child tickets include: a gingerbread/mince pie and hot drink, Santa’s Grotto (with gift), Christmas activities, a winter trail, Christmas letter writing and more.

Tickets for the Christmas Experience must be pre-booked in advance on the Hopefield Animal Sanctuary website.

Pantomimes in Essex

🗺Various locations

📅Various dates depending on theatre company. Many start mid November through to end of December.

Pantomimes are a typical Christmas tradition for many families. You can find a guide to what pantomimes are on in Essex this year by checking out this post: It’s Behind You! 8 Pantomimes In Essex. The biggest pantos in Essex are the one at The Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff (Southend on Sea) and the Princes Theatre in Clacton. These two often bring in famous faces!

Christmas at The Pier (Clacton)

🗺No.1, North Sea, Clacton-on-Sea CO15 1QX

📅Adventure Grotto: 23rd Nov – 24th Dec 2024 (selected dates)

💰Grotto: £15.99

The Adventure Grotto opens at Clacton Pier is open the end of November and throughout December. Visitors will meet Santa and his elves (plus other entertainment) and receive a toy and a cookie. The entrance fee is for 1 adult + 1 child.

Along with the Adventure Grotto they have the ‘Christmas Cracker Deal’. It includes: a round of mini golf, a ride on the big wheel, dodgems, video games, Jurassic Pier 4D & Santas Sleigh Ride 4D and a free hot chocolate.

Ice Skating at Braintree Village

🗺Chapel Hill, Braintree CM77 8YH

📅7th November 2024 – 5th January 2024

From early November until early January, there’s a pop-up Ice Skating rink at Braintree Village. Sessions are 45 minutes long and skate hire is included in the ticket price. There are a variety of different sessions from disco nights, to date nights, parent and toddlers, and quiet sessions, as well as regular sessions.

(There’s a permanent ice rink in Chelmsford which have ice skating sessions throughout winter).

Mental Elf Run 2024 at Belfairs Wood

🗺Belfairs Wood, Eastwood Rd N, Leigh-on-Sea SS9 4LR

📅Sunday 1st December 2024 from 9am until 12pm

💰Adults: from £15 | Children: from £10

On the morning of Sunday 1st December, the annual ‘Metal Elf‘ charity fun run to raise money for SECE Mind will take place at Belfairs Wood. The charity provides mental health support in the local area. The aim is to walk, jog or run approximately 5k around the woodland while in fancy dress.

Participants receive a medal and a mince pie at the end!

Afternoon Tea in a Ski Gondola

🗺Mrs Salisbury’s Famous Tea Rooms, 2 The Street, Wickham Bishops CM8 3NN

Hundreds of Essex cafes, pubs, restaurants and hotels have festival offerings during the Christmas period. It would be impossible to mention them all! However, a unique eating experience is to have an afternoon tea in a ski gondola at Mrs Salisbury’s Famous Tea Rooms in Wickham Bishops!

The gondolas have a minimum booking of 2 people with the afternoon tea from £35.95 per person, from 14th November 2024. Christmas afternoon teas are served with mulled wine, a glass of Prosecco or non alcoholic Christmas punch. (As well as tea and coffee).

Bobble Hat 2k Obstacle Run

🗺Wild Forest, Parsonage Farm, Ongar Rd, Kelvedon Hatch, Brentwood CM15 0LA

📅TBA

💰TBA

For those looking to get out and enjoy some fresh air and movement after enjoying all the treats around Christmas, head to the Wild Forest in Brentwood! On the TBA December, they have a 2k Bobble Hat Obstacle Run (land obstacles only, not the water obstacles).

At the end, there is a fire pit. Participants are welcome to take marshmallows to toast over the fire!

I hope you’ve been inspired by these Christmas things to do in Essex in 2024!