Weston Christmas lights: no date yet, market set for 21 Nov

Not one North Somerset town had published a 2026 Christmas lights switch-on date when this page was written on 5 September. One related date is fixed: the eat:Weston Christmas market, in the Italian Gardens and the Winter Gardens on Saturday 21 November, 10am to 4pm, free to attend. In past years the town’s official switch-on has been held on the same day as that market, in the same gardens, so 21 November is the date to watch. (Visit Weston)

Below is what each town has actually published, and what it does not tell you.

Weston-super-Mare: the pattern, not a date

Weston-super-Mare Town Council runs the official switch-on. The only page it publishes about the event was published on 27 November 2023, and it describes that year’s event: the Italian Gardens from 4.30pm, the lights switched on between 5pm and 5.30pm by the mayor, the winner of the Christmas card competition and Santa, a lantern procession with local children, performances from local groups and mince pies, with over 100 producers at an eat:Weston Christmas market from 10am across the Italian Gardens and the Winter Gardens. (Weston-super-Mare Town Council)

That is a three-year-old page, and its date has long passed. Take the shape of the event from it, not the day. The council’s live events feed runs to May 2027 and carries committee meetings only, with no switch-on in it.

So the honest answer to “when are Weston’s Christmas lights switched on in 2026” is that the council has not said. The market on 21 November is the only anchor there is.

Portishead: running order published, date still TBC

Portishead’s lights are not a council event. They are run by Portishead Christmas Lights, a community interest company formed in 1974, funded by year-round fundraising, local business donations and a town council grant, and put up by more than 100 volunteers. The display now runs more than a mile, from the youth centre at the corner of Harbour Road to the end of the High Street near Gordano School, taking in the Waitrose Piazza and the tower at St Peter’s Church. (Portishead Christmas Lights, Visit Portishead)

The organisers’ own “what’s happening” page has the running order and the road closures already, but the date field on it still reads TBC:

• Event starts 5.40pm with the host and entertainment.
• Lights on and fireworks at 6.45pm.
• Roads close from 5pm: the High Street from the Wyndham Way and Old Mill junctions to Stoke Road, including Avonway, and Albert Road to Wyndham Way. A diversion is signed.
• Santa arrives by the V-Dubs, the Volkswagens covered in Christmas lights, with the fire service and the coastguard, subject to emergency call-outs.

(Portishead Christmas Lights)

Visit Portishead says the switch-on “takes place on the last Monday of November around 6pm in the High Street near The Precinct”, and that the calendar entry appears shortly after the date is announced. The last Monday of November 2026 is 30 November. That is the pattern rather than a confirmed date, and third-party listings quoting a different Monday in November are not backed by anything the organisers have published.

Nailsea: last year’s was called off

Nailsea Town Council’s Christmas tree lights switch-on was due on Friday 5 December 2025 and was cancelled on the day because of heavy rain and moderate winds, which would have stopped the PA system running safely and the reindeer hunt going ahead. Nothing has been published for 2026. (Nailsea Town Council)

Clevedon: lights yes, date no

Clevedon’s display is a volunteer project, Clevedon Christmas Lights, working alongside the town council. Its coverage has grown from Pier Copse, Alexandra Gardens and Hill Road to include Queen’s Square, The Village and the Pier itself, though the fullest description of it on Discover Clevedon dates from October 2022. (Discover Clevedon)

Clevedon Town Council’s events calendar lists committee meetings and nothing else through to early November, so no town-run switch-on is in the diary yet. (Clevedon Town Council)

Planning a trip in

Weston’s switch-on and market are in the Italian Gardens beside the town hall, a few minutes from the Walliscote Grove Road and Carlton Street car parks; tariffs for those and every other council car park are on our parking in North Somerset page. Portishead’s High Street closes from 5pm on its switch-on night, so park off the High Street or walk in. Whatever else is dug up that week is on our roadworks and travel page.

Weston’s other big November nights are the carnival on Friday 13 November and Fireworks at Sea on Saturday 14 November.

This page

Written on 5 September 2026 from what the councils and the volunteer committees have themselves published. No switch-on date here is confirmed for 2026, and this page says so rather than repeating a date from an aggregator. It will be updated as each town announces, which in Weston and Portishead has usually been late October or early November.