Lights on at 7pm on Friday 27 November, fireworks after. The 4pm to 8pm line-up, funfair and Santa sleigh are confirmed; the West Street car park shuts at 7pm.

Leighton Buzzard’s Christmas lights are switched on at 7pm on Friday 27 November 2026, on the High Street, and a firework display follows. Leighton-Linslade Town Council has the date on its own event page. (Leighton-Linslade Town Council)

Updated 3 October: the council has published the line-up. The evening runs 4pm to 8pm with a stage programme, funfair, food court and the Rotary Santa Sleigh, and each of the four Saturdays now has named acts.

The switch-on is the opening night of the Christmas Festival, and the format has changed this year.

The 2026 dates

The council says the festival “will run for 5 dates in November/December 2026”:

Date What is on
Friday 27 November, 4pm to 8pm Stage programme, festive market, funfair, food court, Santa on the Rotary Santa Sleigh, lights switched on at 7pm, fireworks over the High Street
Saturday 28 November, 10am to 3pm Heath Band, Somewhere 2 Sing, LSJ Duo, Tinsel & Cracker street theatre, Happydashery craft
Saturday 5 December, 10am to 3pm Leighton-Linslade Concert Band, The Rock Project, Jazz the Two of Us, Angie’s Festival Funky Hooping, Woodland Warriors craft
Saturday 12 December, 10am to 3pm Top Brass, Rising Voices, Open Voices, Lou and Mack, Christmas Party by Swank, PopFizz craft
Saturday 19 December, 10am to 3pm Bedfordshire Band of the Royal British Legion, Glee Club UK Leighton Buzzard, UkieTooNes, Celeb Reindeer, LB Art Society crafts

That is a real change from last year. In 2025 the festival was a single three-day weekend, Friday 28 to Sunday 30 November, and the council’s own press release described it that way. The 2026 version keeps the Friday and spreads the rest across four Saturdays running up to Christmas. (Christmas Festival press release, 2025)

The Sunday craft and gift market has gone. The council’s 2026 stallholder terms say so in plain words: “there will no longer be a festive craft and gift market on Sunday this year”, and trading is “for the Friday evening Christmas-themed market and lights switch-on event only”.

What is confirmed, and what is not

Confirmed: the date, the 4pm to 8pm evening, the 7pm switch-on, the fireworks, the festive market, the funfair and food court, and the line-up for all five dates. The council’s page now lists the Friday stage acts as Infinite All Stars Cheerleading, Razzamataz, Leighton Buzzard Children’s Theatre and The V.I.Peas, building up to the countdown, and says Santa will arrive “aboard the Rotary Santa Sleigh”. (Leighton-Linslade Town Council)

Not yet published: who switches the lights on. The council has not named a guest, and last year’s headline act slot is not in the 2026 listing. We will update this page if one is announced.

For comparison, the 2025 Friday had the same three local groups before headline act Big in Brazil, with Jade Cook switching the lights on at 7pm.

Timings on the night

The stallholder terms and conditions are the most precise published source for how the Friday runs:

  • 1.30pm: the site becomes accessible to traders
  • 3.30pm: all vehicles must be off the High Street
  • 4pm to 8pm: market trading hours
  • 7pm: the Christmas lights are switched on, fireworks follow
  • 8.30pm: no vehicle is allowed back on the High Street before this, “or when the organisers deem it safe to do so”

Those vehicle times are the practical answer to “when is the High Street shut”. A formal temporary closure order for 27 November had not been published by Central Bedfordshire Council when we last checked, on 4 September 2026. Check our roadworks and travel page nearer the time.

Parking: the trap is the multi-storey

The West Street multi-storey closes at 7pm, Monday to Saturday. The lights go on at 7pm. The council’s own car park entry lists a lock-in charge of £8.50 for anyone still inside. (Central Bedfordshire Council)

The two obvious alternatives are open all night and free by the time you arrive:

  • Hockliffe Street (128 standard bays): open 24 hours, chargeable 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, so free from 6pm on the Friday
  • Duncombe Drive (139 standard bays): open 24 hours, chargeable 8am to 6pm on Fridays, so also free from 6pm

Full tariffs and the rest of the town’s car parks are on our parking page.

Public toilets on the night are in the Waterborne Walk multi-storey car park and at the Swan Hotel on the High Street, according to the council’s trader terms.

Also in December

The Rotary Club of Leighton Linslade runs the Santa Float around the town’s streets through December and Carols in the High Street on Christmas Eve, with a lantern parade before the carols. The club has not yet published its 2026 route or start date; its most recent published float began on 3 December at 6pm around Cotefield Drive. (Leighton Linslade Rotary Club)

Sources