Christmas in Chichester

About Christmas in Chichester

By the ULTIMATE Brighton Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Chichester is one of the loveliest places on the South Coast at Christmas: a walled cathedral city with a market cross at its heart, lights strung across its four main streets, carols in a Norman cathedral and a Christmas show at the Festival Theatre. In 2026 the lights go on at 5pm on Saturday 21 November, and the Festive Market fills East Street and North Street on 4–6 and 11–13 December.

Chichester was laid out by the Romans on a simple cross of four streets, North, South, East and West, meeting at the Market Cross. At Christmas the plan comes into its own: lights hang across all four, the market stalls line the pavements, and every walk ends at the cathedral.

Light Up Chichester

The season opens with Light Up Chichester, organised by the Chichester BID, on Saturday 21 November 2026. Festive activity begins in the city centre from 3pm, with live performances and seasonal food and drink, and the lights are switched on at 5pm outside the Assembly Rooms and the Market Cross on North Street, by two local heroes chosen by the community, with elves from the Festival Theatre’s grotto. It is free to watch, and venues across the city continue the evening with The Afterparty: festive menus, Christmas cocktails and live music.

Check opening times and trains on the official sites before you travel.

The Christmas markets

The Chichester Festive Market runs on 4–6 and 11–13 December 2026 in East Street and North Street, from 9am to 5.30pm on Saturdays and 10am to 4pm on Sundays, with gifts and food and drink from local independent traders. The Novium Museum holds an indoor Christmas market on Sunday 13 December from 10am to 2pm, free to enter, and the Westgate Centre hosts an indoor market in mid-November. Just outside the city, West Dean’s Christmas market, set in the house and gardens, runs on 27 and 28 November 2026, with entry by pre-booked time slot.

Carols at the cathedral

Chichester Cathedral marks the start of the season with its candlelit Advent Procession, on Sunday 29 November 2026 at 4.30pm, moving from darkness to light with readings and carols sung by the Cathedral Choir; no booking is needed. The carol services, with congregational carols and the choir, are free and need no booking: doors open an hour before each service. The cathedral is open for visits and daily guided tours from Boxing Day until New Year’s Eve and on New Year’s Day, from 9am to 4pm, with Evensong at 4pm on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Christmas at the Festival Theatre

Chichester Festival Theatre’s family show this Christmas is Peter Pan, a musical adventure with Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, pirates and mermaids, and for younger children Hey, Christmas Tree, created by Michael Morpurgo, returns. Check cft.org.uk for dates and tickets. In Priory Park, the Guildhall hosts the Priory Park Panto, an intimate show with plenty of audience participation; tickets are limited.

Family trails and the tractor run

On Saturday 12 December 2026, from 10am to 4pm, the city’s Festive Family Day returns with a trail inspired by the Festival Theatre’s Peter Pan and free family activities. Through December the Novium Museum runs its Festive Gonk Trail for children. And on the evening of Sunday 13 December the Chichester Christmas Charity Tractor Run sets off from Funtington at around 5pm, its illuminated tractors winding through East Ashling, Mid Lavant, Summersdale, Chichester, Fishbourne and Bosham before returning to Funtington at around 7pm.

Around Chichester

The towns of the West Sussex Downs keep their own traditions. Petworth House opens its state rooms for A Magical Christmas from 28 November to 3 January; Petworth’s Christmas Cracker turns the town into a market on Saturday 5 December, with the tree lights switched on at 6pm; and on the coast, Selsey lights up on 29 November and the Ice Rink at Seal Bay Resort in Selsey opens on 11 December, running until 3 January.

New Year

Chichester’s restaurants, hotels and pubs mark New Year’s Eve in style, and on New Year’s Day hundreds of swimmers take to the sea at East Wittering in The Big Dip, an annual tradition; check the start time nearer the day. If you would rather stay dry, walk up to The Trundle above Goodwood for the view over the city and the harbour.

Our advice: come for Light Up Chichester or a market weekend, stay for a carol service, and book a table: the city fills up on December Saturdays. Chichester is about 50 minutes from Brighton by train.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Christmas in Chichester before you go.