Festive Christmas Events in Essex UK 2026
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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 2026!
Disclosure: I do my best to try and keep information up-to-date but please check direct with businesses for current opening times, dates 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
📅Open from mid-September
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.
Poplar Nurseries Breakfast With Santa
🗺Poplar Nurseries Ltd, Coggeshall Rd, Marks Tey, Colchester, CO6 1HR
📅Breakfast With Santa | Check dates here
Poplar Nurseries in Marks Tey has another great Christmas department. In the week before Christmas they run 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 – Sundays leading up to Christmas during December
📅Teatime With Santa – Monday before Christmas
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.
Christmas Lights in Essex
Enlightened
🗺Highlands Estate, Greenbury Way Entrance, Chelmsford, CM2 8WQ | Markshall Estate, Coggeshall, Colchester CO6 1TG
📅End of Nov – Early Jan (Markshall Estate: Mid Dec until 24th Dec) | Check dates here
Returning to Hylands Park is Enlightened, an outdoor light trail running from the end of November until beginning of January. Tickets are pre-booked online in advance. There is a second light trail at Markshall Estate in Coggeshall. This location starts early to mid December and runs until Christmas eve. The light trails are approximately 1 mile long and take 1 hour to walk around.
Glow at Hyde Hall
🗺Creephedge Ln, Chelmsford, CM3 8ET
📅Select dates from end November until end of December | 5pm – 9pm | Check dates here
Another light trail is Glow at RHS Hyde Hall. Glow is open from end of November until end of December 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
📅Select dates from Nov – Jan | Check dates here
💰Price varies depending on event
The Epping Ongar Railway has a couple of different Christmas events running. Santa’s Special Trains run weekends from end of November and throughout December, and then weekdays during the week before Christmas.
All children receive a gift from Santa, included within the ticket price.
Running on various dates between November until early-January are the Epping Ongar Lights Party Express trains. Both the steam and diesel trains are decorated with hundreds of Christmas lights as well as a light display along the route. In 2024 the introduced 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
📅Mid Nov – 24th Dec
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
📅Weekend in December & select dates Christmas week | 10am – 4pm
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 and must be pre-booked in advance.
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
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 fee. 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 mid Nov and weekdays in the week before Christmas
💰Standard Zoo entry tickets required | Santa Experience: an additional fee
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 fee 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
📅Mid Nov until Christmas Eve (not 7 days a week)
*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 end of Nov
Every weekend from end of 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. 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: end of Nov until Christmas eve(selected dates)
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 soft plush 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
📅early November until early January
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 at Belfairs Wood
🗺Belfairs Wood, Eastwood Rd N, Leigh-on-Sea SS9 4LR
📅Date varies, either last Sunday in Nov or first Sunday in December from 9am until 12pm | Check date here
If you fancy a Sunday morning run, the annual ‘Metal Elf‘ charity fun run to raise money for SECE Mind take places 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! (Regular Christmas afternoon tea available at the locations in Maldon, Wickham Bishops and Coggeshall).
The gondolas have a minimum booking of 2 people for the afternoon tea, from mid November. 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!
