Fareham's lights go on at 5.30pm on Sat 21 November under the bandstand, with the Mayor, Father Christmas and the panto cast. Free, 10am to 7pm on West Street.

Fareham’s Christmas lights come on at 5.30pm on Saturday 21 November 2026. The event around it runs all day, from 10am to 7pm on West Street, and the switch itself happens under the town centre bandstand, where the Mayor of Fareham, Councillor Tina Ellis, will do the honours alongside Father Christmas and cast members from Fareham Live’s Jack and the Beanstalk.

Updated 29 September: the council has confirmed Father Christmas, the Mayor and the panto cast for the switch-on, plus the free activities, funfair rides and food area.

Updated 3 October: the council has published the Buskin’ Blitzen running order, nine acts from 10am, with James Westerby himself on at 2.30pm.

Updated 6 October: the council’s markets page now lists Thursday 10 and Thursday 17 December as this year’s Festive Thursdays, and Flo’s Pop-Up opens 9am to 7.30pm on switch-on day. The switch-on Christmas market and the other festive markets are on our Christmas markets page.

That is straight from Fareham Borough Council’s own Christmas in Fareham page and its 14 September announcement, both checked on 29 September 2026 (the Christmas page again on 3 October). Fareham Shopping Centre’s 2026 events list gives the same date and the same 10am to 7pm window.

Fareham town centre, Saturday 21 November
Date Saturday 21 November 2026
Event times 10am to 7pm
Lights on 5.30pm, under the bandstand
Switching on The Mayor, Cllr Tina Ellis, with Father Christmas and the panto cast
Free children’s activities 10am to 4pm, around the bandstand
Where West Street, Fareham town centre
Price Free to attend

What the council has confirmed so far:

  • Father Christmas is coming, the council’s release says, and joins the Mayor and her consort, Cllr Robert Ellis, and some of the pantomime cast for the 5.30pm countdown.
  • Free activities, 10am to 4pm around the bandstand: Christingle making, a bubble workshop and shows, and a graffiti art workshop, plus a mini trail around the event. The council says more will be confirmed.
  • Buskin’ Blitzen, live music from solo artists and duos under the bandstand through the day, put together by James Westerby Music. The running order: 10am The Flatcap Crooner, 10.45am Tia Maria, 11.30am Brigid Mcgovern, 12.15pm Aaron Atkinson, 1pm Shayley Stephens, 1.45pm Jemima Hewett, 2.30pm James Westerby, 3.15pm Olivia Drew, 4pm Tegan Marie.
  • A community stage outside Millets, with choirs, dance schools, theatre groups and local organisations, before things move to the bandstand for the countdown.
  • A Christmas market of local makers stretching between the children’s play area and Millets, organised by Funyard Events, and an indoor market in The Courtyard unit in Fareham Shopping Centre.
  • A family funfair either side of the bandstand from Charles Coles Family Funfairs: a big wheel, trampolines, helter skelter, swing boats, mini waltzer and chair-o-planes, plus sweets, doughnuts and German sausages.
  • A food area towards Westbury Manor with crepes, crumble, Greek food, hog roast, hot drinks and a bar serving Christmas cocktails, mulled wine and Baileys hot chocolate.

Still not published: ride prices and the community stage running order. In 2025 the shape was much the same, with the Mayor, Father Christmas and the panto cast (Beauty and the Beast that year) at the switch.

If you want to perform or take a stall, the council’s Leisure and Community Team is on 01329 236100 or leisure@fareham.gov.uk.

Whiteley, Saturday 5 December

Whiteley runs its own switch-on a fortnight later. Whiteley Town Council’s home page lists “4.30pm Saturday 5th December Christmas Lights Switch On” in its 2026 events. The council states that its events are “free to all except Fireworks”, so this one is free.

No venue is named on that list. The town council’s other outdoor events are at Meadowside Recreation Ground and Barn Farm Community Centre, and it directs people to its Facebook page for detail, but we are not going to guess a location it has not published.

Portchester has no 2026 date yet

Portchester’s precinct lights are a separate, smaller event. The Portchester Community Association says on its own website that it “organises the Portchester Gala and the Portchester Precinct Christmas tree and lights”, but its site carries no 2026 switch-on date, and its old switch-on page is an empty template.

For reference, Portchester Community Choir’s events listing had the 2025 switch-on in Portchester Precinct on Saturday 6 December, with the choir due at 3pm; that listing now marks the choir’s slot as cancelled. We will add the 2026 date when the association publishes one.

Locks Heath has no 2026 date

Switch On Locks Heath, the festive afternoon on Centre Way, SO31 6DX, has no announced 2026 date. Visit Hampshire’s listing for it still carries a Saturday 26 November start time of 1pm, and the page itself says “Sorry, this event has passed”. 26 November 2026 is a Thursday, so that date belongs to an earlier year and should not be trusted for this one.

Festive Thursdays: Thursday 10 and 17 December

Fareham’s late-night Christmas shopping is a separate thing from the switch-on. The council’s Festive Thursdays page still carries last year’s details, but the council’s markets page now lists Thursday 10 and Thursday 17 December 2026 as Festive Thursdays, with Flo’s Pop-Up @ The Courtyard open 9am to 7pm on both. Late shop hours and any free evening parking for 2026 have not been published yet.

For scale, in 2025 the council ran it on Thursday 11 and Thursday 18 December, with the shopping centre open until 8pm, a festive indoor market, free children’s activities including mini golf, storytelling, a Santa’s grotto, face painting and elf workshops, roaming entertainers in the Winter Garden, and free parking in town centre car parks from 5pm. The 2025 programme was announced on 19 November, so expect this year’s details in mid-November.

One thing that is confirmed for this Christmas: Flo’s Pop-Up @ The Courtyard, a vacant shopping centre unit turned over to Hampshire makers, will trade every weekend from November to Christmas and will form part of Festive Thursdays. We covered that announcement here.

Parking on switch-on day

The switch-on is a Saturday, so normal charges apply. Fareham Borough Council’s tariffs run Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm, and the concession that makes outer car parks free applies on Sundays and bank holidays, which 21 November is not. Charges stop at 6pm, half an hour after the lights go on.

West Street through the event area is pedestrianised, so there is no road closure to plan around, but the car parks nearest the bandstand fill first. Full tariffs, the blue badge rules and the split between the borough’s car parks and Hampshire County Council’s on-street bays are on our parking in Fareham page.

Check roadworks and travel before you drive in. The new M27 junction 10 opened in phases from 14 September, but the last slip roads and the lane restrictions between junctions 9 and 11 are not due to finish until later in the autumn and winter.

What we will update

  • Community stage times and any further free activities, which the council says will be “confirmed soon”.
  • Festive Thursdays 2026 shop hours and parking, expected mid-November.
  • Whiteley’s switch-on venue, if the town council publishes one.
  • Portchester and Locks Heath, if a 2026 date appears anywhere first-hand.

Sources