Bournemouth Christmas Market: 12 Nov to 3 Jan, Free Entry

Is Bournemouth’s Christmas market on in 2026? Yes. Christmas in Bournemouth opens on Thursday 12 November 2026 and closes on Sunday 3 January 2027. The market stalls finish earlier, on 31 December, and entry to the market and the light trail is free.

Updated 5 October: the operator has published the 2026 stage programme, the snowfall times and the full Festive Trail line-up, including a Big Wheel. On 3 October the operator and the ice rink published their 2026 dates and the rink its ticket prices.

Bournemouth Christmas market 2026 at a glance

The operator’s site, christmasinbournemouth.co.uk, now reads “Opening 12th November - Closing January 3rd (Market Stalls Close 31st)”. SKATE Bournemouth’s site gives the full years: “12th of November 2026 - 3rd of January 2027”, in the Lower Gardens, BH2 5AU.

Opening hours

The operator publishes two slightly different sets of market hours, so here are both, in its own words:

• Its FAQ page: the Christmas Market is open 7 days a week, 11am to 8pm, “with our Food Traders remaining open until 10pm”.
• Its market page: “Market Stalls close at 8pm daily (7pm Sundays) and Food Stalls remain open until 10pm everyday.”
• The Alpine Lodge bar is open 7 days a week, 11am to 11pm.

So if you are going for gifts on a Sunday, aim to be there before 7pm. The market page also says “2026 Traders Coming Soon!”, so the stall list is not out yet.

Last season ran 13 November 2025 to 4 January 2026, with the market ending on 31 December, so this year follows the same pattern a day earlier.

Ice rink dates, prices and theme nights

SKATE Bournemouth’s ticket page lists these prices for the 2026/27 season, with a £2 booking fee per transaction when you book online:

Groups of ten or more get 10% off. Toddler Time is £24.50 for one adult, one child under 12 and a skate aid (normally £35.50), Monday to Friday until 11 December 2026, at the 10.30am and 11.45am sessions only.

The rink’s 2026 what’s on page also lists:

• Experienced skate sessions on 19 November, 26 November and 3 December, for skaters with their own skates.
• Theme nights: ABBA on 18 November, musicals on 25 November and Motown and 80s on 2 December.
• Weekend DJs on Friday and Saturday evenings, when the bar area is over-18s only from 6pm.
• Student nights with buy one get one free skating on a valid student ID.

The rink says it is now the longest in the UK, at 70m.

What the festive site includes

From the operator’s own listing:

• the Christmas Market, with “over 40 traders”
• Christmas Tree Wonderland, the free illuminated trail
• the ice rink, billed as the South Coast’s largest outdoor rink, in the Lower Gardens, BH2 5AU
• the Alpine Lodge Bar
• Santa’s Workshop
• Snow & Glow Golf
• the Christmas Tree Maze
• carols and choirs, and costumed Christmas characters

The operator’s Festive Trail page for 2026 adds a Big Wheel in the Lower Gardens, Santa’s Express (a Christmas train through the gardens), a real Christmas tree walkway and a maze of 300 illuminated trees. Its rides page also lists Santa’s Sleigh Ride Simulator, Santa’s Sleigh Park, a “Control The Lights” game and prize stalls, with “no prebookings required”. The mini golf in the Gardens becomes an 18-hole Christmas course, with Glow Golf sessions after dark. An indoor rink at the Bournemouth International Centre, Cool Coast, was listed on the visitor site with dates “to be announced” and has not been confirmed for this year either.

The whole thing is run by Bournemouth Christmas Company, a partnership of SKATE Bournemouth and Seventa Events, which BCP Council awarded a five-year contract in January 2025 covering the Lower Gardens ice rink, the town centre market, the light trail, Santa’s workshop and the tree maze.

What’s on the stage, and when it snows

The stage in Bournemouth Square, next to the Alpine Lodge, has a published programme of free performances. The opening days, as the operator lists them:

• Thursday 12 November: Sing People Sing, 6pm and 7pm
• Friday 13 November: Sodapops Trio at 4pm, Love Soul Choir at 5pm, Sing People Sing at 6pm and 7pm
• Saturday 14 November: South Coast Bachata at noon, Rock Choir at 1.15pm, Relight My Choir at 2pm, then Jonathan Lindop, Simon Lane Music and Bee Chumley from 5pm
• Sunday 15 November: Dolphin Marching Band at noon

The biggest day on the list is Saturday 12 December, a “JOY to the World Takeover” running from 10am, with St James School Choir, Stagecoach Theatre School, Sing for Joy Community Choir, the Joint Churches Choir and Hope Church Choir among the acts. Bournemouth Youth Marching Band plays on 5 and 19 December from 10am. The operator says more choirs will be added.

Santa tells a free story on the same stage at 5.30pm. The operator is clear that this is a storytelling session, not a meet and greet; one-to-one time is the bookable 30-minute Story Time with Santa in the Workshop by the Lower Gardens bandstand.

Artificial snow falls at set times:

• from the Alpine Lodge balcony: 5pm Monday to Thursday; 2pm, 5pm and 7pm Friday to Sunday
• from the giant trees on the trail: 5pm Monday to Thursday; 4pm, 6pm and 8pm Friday to Sunday

The planning application nobody is talking about

Here is the part that matters for the years after this one.

Alpine Christmas Markets Ltd has applied to BCP Council to renew the permission the market operates under. The application is P/26/02985/FUL, and on 3 October its status on the council’s own register was “Awaiting sign off”, and it was unchanged when we checked again on 5 October, which on BCP’s register means an officer’s decision is drafted and waiting to be signed.

The proposal, in the register’s words, is the:

“Use of land for Temporary Christmas Markets and ancillary entertainment facilities (including Alpine Lodge Bar, Bratwurst Stand, Stage, Christmas Market Chalets, Christmas Features and associated chillers and stores) for up to 80 days per calendar year (including set up and take down).”

The key dates on the file: received 25 June 2026, validated 9 July, consultation opened on 27 July and, after an extension, closed on 29 September, and the decision is to be taken at delegated level, meaning by an officer rather than a committee. The case officer is Eden Evans. The agent is Pure Town Planning of Crimea Road, Bournemouth.

This does not put the 2026 market in doubt. The applicant’s own planning statement confirms the existing consent, reference 7-2021-7052-P, expires in January 2027, so it covers this coming season. The renewal is about 2027 onwards, and it asks for five more years.

The number that has gone up

Every previous permission for this use was for 70 days a year. The planning statement lists them: 7-2021-7052-P, 7-2018-7052-O, 7-2012-16259-N and 7-2009-7052-L, all “up to 70 days per calendar year”. This application asks for 80.

The statement is inconsistent about it. Its opening paragraph describes the application as being “for up to 70 days in any calendar year”, while paragraph 20 and the application description both say 80. Ten days is the difference between a market that is packed away just after New Year and one that can start setting up in the second half of October.

That is exactly what the single neighbour objection on file complains about. A resident of Surrey Road, BH4, wrote:

“80 days for a christmas market feels far too long… If the markets ran for a shorter period I would not object, but having the square and lower gardens blocked for christmas prep from before Halloween as happened last year is too much.”

The objection also argues the stalls, crowds and extra bollards obstruct National Cycle Network route 25 through the town centre.

The two statutory responses on file are undramatic. Bournemouth Town Council has “no comment”. The Gardens Trust, consulted because the site forms part of the Grade II registered Upper, Central and Lower Pleasure Gardens and Coy Pond Gardens, “do not wish to comment on the proposals at this stage”, while noting that the registration “requires great weight to be given to its conservation”. Parts of the application area also sit within or beside the Old Christchurch Road Conservation Area.

Getting there and parking

The market spreads across The Square, Commercial Road and Old Christchurch Road, with the rink and the light trail in the Lower Gardens. It is all pedestrianised and all within a few minutes of Bournemouth station or the bus station.

If you do drive, the town centre car parks nearest the Square are the ones covered in our Bournemouth parking prices breakdown, where a 24-hour stay ranges from £6.40 at Madeira Road to £28 at Bath Road South in season. Check roadworks and travel first.

What is still to come

• The 2026 trader list, which the operator still says is “coming soon” (read 5 October).
• Opening night details. Neither site has yet announced a launch event for 12 November.
• The decision on P/26/02985/FUL, which is awaiting sign off. It affects 2027 onwards, not this season.

Frequently asked questions

When does Bournemouth Christmas market open in 2026?

Thursday 12 November 2026. The market stalls trade until 31 December, and the ice rink, Festive Trail and Alpine Lodge stay open until Sunday 3 January 2027.

What time does Bournemouth Christmas market close?

Market stalls close at 8pm, or 7pm on Sundays. Food stalls stay open until 10pm every day and the Alpine Lodge bar until 11pm.

Is Bournemouth Christmas market free?

Yes. Entry to the market, the Festive Trail in the Lower Gardens and the stage performances is free. Skating, Glow Golf, the tree maze and Story Time with Santa are paid, and booking is recommended.

Is there an ice rink at Bournemouth Christmas market 2026?

Yes, SKATE Bournemouth in the Lower Gardens, 12 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. Adult tickets are £16.50, children under 12 £14, plus a £2 booking fee per transaction online.

Where is Bournemouth Christmas market?

The chalets are in The Square, Commercial Road and Old Christchurch Road. The rink, light trail, Big Wheel and Santa’s Workshop are in the Lower Gardens, BH2 5AU.

Sources

• Christmas in Bournemouth, the operator’s own site, for the 12 November to 3 January opening, the 31 December market close, free entry, the 40-plus traders, the six weeks of trading and the full attraction list; its FAQs and market page for the two versions of the opening hours, the Alpine Lodge hours and “2026 Traders Coming Soon”. Also its Festive Trail, rides and games, Glow Golf, carols and choirs, Santa visits and let it snow pages, read 5 October 2026, for the Big Wheel, Santa’s Express, the 300-tree maze, the stage programme, the 5.30pm Santa story and the snowfall times.
• SKATE Bournemouth for the 12 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 season, the Lower Gardens BH2 5AU location and the 70m rink; its tickets page for the prices, booking fee, group discount and Toddler Time; and its what’s on 2026 page for the experienced sessions, theme nights, weekend DJs and student nights.
• Bournemouth.co.uk, Christmas Tree Wonderland and its Christmas in Bournemouth page for last season’s 13 November 2025 to 4 January 2026 dates, the 11am to 11pm hours, the 31 December market end and the Cool Coast rink listed as to be announced.
• BCP Council, new operator to build on Bournemouth’s impressive Christmas success, 17 January 2025 for the Bournemouth Christmas Company five-year contract and what it covers.
• BCP Council’s planning register, application P/26/02985/FUL, for the proposal wording, the 80-day figure, the 25 June and 9 July dates, the 27 July start and 29 September end of consultation, the delegated decision level, the applicant and agent, and the “Awaiting sign off” status as at 3 and 5 October 2026. The planning and heritage statement on that file supplies the 70-day history, the January 2027 expiry of 7-2021-7052-P and the five-year renewal request. The consultee and neighbour responses are the Bournemouth Town Council comment, the Gardens Trust response and the Surrey Road objection of 5 August 2026, all published on the same file.