Light Up Chichester turned the lights on at 5pm on 22 November 2025. No 2026 date is published yet, and the pattern points at Saturday 21 November.

No 2026 date has been announced for Chichester’s Christmas lights switch-on. That is the honest answer as of 4 September 2026, and it is not unusual: the announcement has come in October or early November in recent years.

The event is called Light Up Chichester and it is run by Chichester BID, the city centre business improvement district, not by either council. Chichester District Council builds its Priory Park festive programme around the switch-on date once the BID sets it.

What we checked, and what came back empty

Four first-party sources, all read on 4 September 2026:

  • Chichester BID’s events calendar. Its listings for November and December 2026 contain nothing but the recurring farmers markets and the Pallant House Gallery collection tours. No switch-on, no market, no after party.
  • Chichester BID’s news page. The most recent post is dated 27 August 2026 and is about the city, not Christmas.
  • Chichester District Council’s news. Nothing on Christmas 2026.
  • Chichester City Council’s news feed. Last updated 28 August 2026, with nothing festive.

So there is no date to give you, and anyone publishing one right now is guessing.

The likely date, and why

The switch-on has fallen on the Saturday before the last Saturday in November. It was Saturday 23 November 2024 and Saturday 22 November 2025. The equivalent Saturday in 2026 is Saturday 21 November.

Treat that as a plausible date to keep free, not a confirmed one.

There is one local complication. Chichester BID is running its renewal ballot this autumn. Ballot papers go out on 20 October, completed papers must reach the ballot holder by 5pm on 19 November, and the count is on 20 November, with the result declared by Chichester District Council. If the switch-on does land on 21 November, the BID will be running it the day after finding out whether it survives.

That ballot decides the BID’s fourth term, 2027 to 2032. It does not affect the 2026 event either way, because the current term runs into 2027.

What the event actually looked like in 2025

Chichester BID’s own listing for Light Up Chichester sets out the 2025 shape, which is the best guide to 2026 until the BID says otherwise.

Element 2025 detail
Date Saturday 22 November 2025
Whole event 10am to 6pm
Where East Street, North Street and The Cross
Food and drink market East Street, 10am to 6pm, more than a dozen local traders
Live music and dance North Street, 12pm to 5.30pm
Countdown 4.59pm, outside the Assembly Rooms on North Street
Lights on 5pm
After party From 6pm, bars and restaurants across the city

The countdown was fronted by elves from Chichester Festival Theatre alongside “local heroes” chosen by nomination. There were snow flutter effects and projections on the Assembly Rooms, and performances from Big Noise, Arabesque Dance School, the RG Steel Pan Band, Dance and Beyond, Rock Choir, Stagecoach and The Prebendal School Choir.

It is free to attend.

The weather has form here

This is the practical warning worth carrying into November. Chichester’s outdoor festive events have been called off in each of the last two years, and both times the reason was wind.

  • In 2024, the pop-up food event that was meant to run alongside the switch-on on East Street was cancelled on 20 November, three days before the event, because of forecast high winds and heavy rain.
  • In 2025, the Chichester Festive Market was cancelled for Saturday 6 December because gusts were expected to make the gazebos unstable. The council announced it the day before and let the Sunday market go ahead.

The lights themselves are on a building and go on regardless. The market stalls and the staging are the part that goes.

What usually follows the switch-on

Chichester District Council runs a separate festive programme once the lights are up, based at The Guildhall in Priory Park. In 2025 that ran from 28 November and included storytelling for pre-schoolers, silent discos, concerts, a DJ set for teenagers, a children’s magic show and a commissioned pantomime. The council said the nine-day programme drew about 1,400 people and largely sold out.

The Chichester Festive Markets ran on North Street and East Street over two December weekends: 6, 7, 13 and 14 December 2025, Saturdays 9am to 5pm and Sundays 10am to 4pm.

There was also an interactive lights installation at Chichester Cathedral’s Bell Tower, delivered jointly by the district council, the BID and Chichester City Council.

None of these are confirmed for 2026 yet either.

Parking on the day

The council has run festive parking offers for the last two Decembers. In 2025, booking two hours at a weekend through the MiPermit app got a third hour free across most council car parks, with the Avenue de Chartres multi-storey excluded, and Sundays were free at Avenue de Chartres through December.

Whether that repeats in 2026 has not been announced. Our parking page has the standard tariffs, and the roadworks and travel page covers city centre closures. For the pantomime and Christmas shows, see our Chichester Christmas shows page.

Still to be confirmed

  • The 2026 switch-on date and times. Expected from Chichester BID in October 2026.
  • The Priory Park festive programme and pantomime. Announced in early November in 2025.
  • The Chichester Festive Market dates. Announced in November in 2025.
  • Festive parking offers. Announced late November in 2025.

This page will be updated as each is published.

Sources