Chichester Festival Theatre is booking now: Peter Pan runs 14 to 30 December, Hey! Christmas Tree from 5 December, both from £10. The panto is separate.

Chichester Festival Theatre’s 2026 winter season is announced and on sale. The two family shows are Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure, in the Festival Theatre from Monday 14 to Wednesday 30 December, and Hey! Christmas Tree, in the Minerva from Saturday 5 to Sunday 27 December. Both start at £10.

One thing to get straight first, because it trips people up every year: Chichester Festival Theatre does not do a traditional pantomime. Its Christmas shows are family musicals and concerts. The city’s actual panto is a separate, much smaller production run by Chichester District Council at The Guildhall in Priory Park, and it has not been announced for 2026 yet.

The confirmed dates

Show Venue Dates From
Christmas Concerts Festival Theatre Tue 1 to Sat 5 Dec 2026 £10
Christmas Wonder Gig Minerva Bar Fri 4 Dec 2026 See CFT
Hey! Christmas Tree Minerva Theatre Sat 5 to Sun 27 Dec 2026 £10
Mistletoe & Melodies, a musical supper The Brasserie Fri 11 to Sat 12 Dec 2026 See CFT
Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure Festival Theatre Mon 14 to Wed 30 Dec 2026 £10
Elves Christmas Party Oaklands Park Thu 24 Dec 2026 See CFT
The Nutcracker Festival Theatre Wed 6 to Sun 10 Jan 2027 £10

Peter Pan: the one most families will book

This is Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s annual show, and in Sussex it is the closest thing the city has to a big Christmas production. It is the Stiles and Drewe musical, music by George Stiles, lyrics and a new version by Anthony Drewe, based on Willis Hall’s book and adapted from J.M. Barrie’s play with permission from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Lucy Betts directs, with a full professional creative team behind the young cast.

  • Age guidance: 7 and over.
  • Prices: the five bands run £10, £20, £27, £33 and £39 for evenings and matinees.
  • Running time: not published. CFT’s page says to check back on 14 December, which is opening night, so do not plan the train home around it yet.

Hey! Christmas Tree: the one for the under-sevens

Written by Vicki Berwick from Michael Morpurgo’s book of poems My Heart Was a Tree, with music and lyrics by Eamonn O’Dwyer, directed by Dale Rooks. It returns to the Minerva after its 2024 premiere. Tree is rescued from the forest on Christmas Eve by Mavis, a motorbiking park ranger, who lives with her cat Winston and nine-year-old Yulia, a long way from home and not talking.

  • Age guidance: 3 to 7 years. CFT calls it a first festive theatre trip.
  • Running time: one hour, no interval. That is the number parents of three-year-olds actually need.
  • Prices: three bands, £10, £20 and £25.
  • Olivia Arnold, Callum Balmforth, Amanda Gordon and Nick Howard-Brown return in their roles, with Iona Crampton as Susan the Snow Woman and Father Christmas.

Christmas Concerts, and the family discount worth knowing

The Christmas Concerts run for a week in the Festival Theatre, with The Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines Collingwood and the Chichester Cathedral Choir together again, carols, new arrangements and a sing-along. Age guidance 7 and over.

Bands are £10, £20, £29, £35 and £42, the most expensive of the festive shows.

The offer that changes the maths for families: half price for up to four under-16s with every full-price paying adult, booked and paid for in a single transaction, with the discount applied at checkout rather than in the basket. Groups of eight or more get 10 per cent off Tuesday to Friday performances.

CFT notes that listed prices are accurate at on sale and can move with demand, so booking early genuinely matters.

The Nutcracker, into January

New English Ballet Theatre brings a new production of The Nutcracker, created by Valentino Zucchetti, to the Festival Theatre from Wednesday 6 to Sunday 10 January 2027, danced to Tchaikovsky’s score. Running time two hours including an interval. Bands are £10, £20, £26, £32 and £38.

The Prologue tickets, CFT’s discounted scheme, are already showing as sold out on some performances, including the Saturday evening and the Sunday matinee.

One rule that catches people out

Every child under 14 must be accompanied by, and seated with, an adult. CFT applies the advertised ticket prices and concessions for children of the stated ages, so you cannot leave an 11-year-old in a cheaper seat elsewhere in the house.

The traditional panto is the council’s, not the theatre’s

If what you want is a proper pantomime with an hour’s running time and a Santa meet and greet, that is the Priory Park Panto Experience at The Guildhall in Priory Park, commissioned by Chichester District Council.

In 2025 it ran on 5, 6, 7 and 12, 13, 14 December, one hour long, at £10 for adults and £7.50 for children, with a short meet and greet and photos after each performance. It sat inside a nine-day festive programme at The Guildhall that the council says drew about 1,400 people and largely sold out.

Nothing has been announced for 2026. The 2025 programme was published in early November, so expect the same timing. When it lands it will be on the council’s news pages and we will add it here.

Getting there

Chichester Festival Theatre is in Oaklands Park, Chichester, PO19 6AP, a walk north of the city centre. The box office is 01243 781312. For driving in, our parking page covers the city car parks and the roadworks and travel page covers what is closed. The lights that go up before all of this are tracked on our Christmas lights switch-on page.

Still to be confirmed

  • Peter Pan running time. CFT says check back on 14 December 2026.
  • The Priory Park Panto Experience 2026. Expected early November 2026.
  • The rest of the council’s Guildhall festive programme. Expected early November 2026.

Sources