Christmas in Worthing

About Christmas in Worthing

By the ULTIMATE Brighton Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Worthing’s Christmas is a seaside one: a pantomime in the Pavilion Theatre at the shore end of the pier, Christmas concerts across the town’s theatres, a family trail of toy soldiers through the shopping streets, and the sea air to walk it all off. In 2026 the Pavilion pantomime is Puss in Boots, from 3 December to 3 January.

Worthing does Christmas in its own unhurried way. The shopping streets fill with lights and decorated trees, the theatres put on their busiest season of the year, and between the shows there is always the pier and the long promenade, bracing in December and beautiful at sunset.

The pantomime

This year’s pantomime at the Pavilion Theatre is Puss in Boots, from Thursday 3 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, produced by Worthing Theatres and Museum with Paul Holman Associates. James Jordan, of Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing on Ice, plays the villain Rumpelstiltskin; Alan Richardson, a Worthing local, is Dame Nelly. The run includes relaxed, captioned and BSL, dementia-friendly and audio-described performances.

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

Concerts and shows

Worthing Theatres and Museum gathers its Christmas programme on one page each year, with family shows and films alongside concerts. In 2026 it includes the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra’s Christmas concert, this year with a cinematic theme, and the Salvation Army’s Christmas at the Assembly Hall, a tradition of around 50 years. Check wtm.uk for dates and tickets.

Lights and the town-centre trail

Worthing Town Centre BID decorates the shopping streets, and in recent years it has run a Toy Soldier and Christmas Tree Trail: toy soldiers stand guard at festive spots around the centre, and local businesses and community groups decorate Christmas trees along the way. Families pick up a map, find the soldiers and send in the completed form. Markets in Montague Street add Christmas gifts and food. The BID publishes each year’s trail and market dates at worthingtowncentre.co.uk.

Winter by the sea

On a clear December day, walk the pier to its southern pavilion for the view back to the Downs, then stroll the promenade as the sun goes down. The Dome cinema, from 1911, is a cosy place to end a winter afternoon.

Our advice: book the pantomime early for the week before Christmas, and come by train: Worthing is about 25 minutes from Brighton.

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