Southwold's switch-on is Saturday 28 November 2026, with 35 High Street stalls from 2pm. The lights went on at 5pm in 2024 and 2025. Free, and where to park.
Southwold’s Christmas lights go on on Saturday 28 November 2026. Light Up Southwold, the volunteer group that runs them, has listed the day for stallholders: a market of 35 stalls on the High Street from 2pm to 6pm, free to visitors. The group has not yet published this year’s running order, but in both of the last two years Father Christmas switched the lights on from the Town Hall balcony at 5pm.
The quick answer
- When: Saturday 28 November 2026, 2pm to 6pm. That is the last Saturday in November, the day the organisers say they always use.
- Switch-on time: not yet announced for 2026. It was 5pm in 2024 and in 2025.
- Where: the High Street and the Market Place, Southwold. The lights are switched on from the Town Hall balcony.
- Cost: free. The lights themselves are paid for by donations.
- Same day as Felixstowe. Felixstowe’s switch-on is also Saturday 28 November, with its lights also due on at 5pm, so you cannot see both.
Is it on this year?
Yes. Light Up Southwold’s listing on the Stall and Craft Collective, a stallholder booking site, gives 28/11/2026, venue High Street, Southwold IP18 6YA, organiser Light Up Southwold, 35 stalls, visitors from 14:00 to 18:00 and an admission price of £0. (Stall and Craft Collective)
That fits what the group says about itself on Southwold Town Council’s visitor site: it took the lights over from the previous group in 2023, fundraises through the year and “organise[s] a family switch on event on the last Saturday in November”. (Visit Southwold) 28 November is the last Saturday of November 2026.
What happens on the day
Light Up Southwold describes the shape of the day the same way every year: a Christmas street market on the High Street in the afternoon, live entertainment in the Market Place, then Father Christmas arriving late in the afternoon and walking along the High Street to switch on the lights from the Town Hall balcony. Afterwards he sees children in his grotto in the Adnams Tour Centre, at the back of The Swan.
The two published programmes so far, both from the town council’s visitor site:
| 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Saturday 30 November | Saturday 29 November |
| Stalls | 2pm to 6pm | High Street market from 2pm |
| Entertainment | from 2.30pm | Market Place, from 2.30pm |
| Lights on | 5pm | 5pm, from the Town Hall balcony |
| Santa’s Grotto | Adnams Tour Centre, after the switch-on | Adnams Tour Centre, free, from 5.30pm, no booking |
| Road closure | from 1pm | not stated |
Sources: 2024 event page and 2025 event page. The 2026 times beyond 2pm to 6pm are not yet published, so treat the 2.30pm, 5pm and 5.30pm slots as last year’s, not this year’s.
Road closures
In 2024 the High Street closed to traffic from 1pm for the stalls. No closure notice has been published for 2026 yet. With stalls along the High Street until 6pm, plan on the street being shut to cars for the whole afternoon and park before 1pm.
Parking
Southwold Town Council’s parking page lists the town’s car parks. The ones run by East Suffolk Council are on the winter tariff by 28 November: from 1 November to 31 March it is £2.10 for two hours, £3.70 for four and £5.20 for the day at Ferry Road, Harbour Quay Central, Harbour Quay East and the Pier, against £4.20, £6.30 and £8.30 in summer. All four offer a free 30-minute session if you register it at the machine or in the app. (East Suffolk Council tariffs, from 1 April 2026)
- Southwold Pier, IP18 6BN: the biggest, 335 spaces including 16 disabled bays.
- Harbour Quay East, 228 spaces, and Ferry Road, 55 spaces.
- Millennium Foundation car park, Mights Road IP18 6BE: 120 spaces, paid by donation box.
- Free car parks: York Road IP18 6AN and Godyll Road IP18 6HN, plus Harbour Quay West (60 spaces) and Ferry Road North (9).
Blue Badge holders pay in East Suffolk’s car parks. The council says “no parking concessions are offered” there, even in disabled bays (East Suffolk Council). The free parking at meters and on yellow lines described on the town’s parking page is the national on-street Blue Badge rule, not a rule for these car parks.
Coming from Woodbridge, check roadworks and travel before you go: the A12 has had repeated overnight closures this autumn. For the car parks at home, see parking in Woodbridge.
Other switch-ons on the coast
- Felixstowe: Saturday 28 November, noon to 6pm, lights at 5pm, The Triangle. Details.
- Woodbridge: not yet announced; the last two ran on the final Thursday and Friday of November. Details.
Supporting the lights
Southwold’s lights are funded by voluntary contributions. The organisers take donations through their JustGiving page, justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lightupsouthwold, and by email at lightupsouthwold@gmail.com (Visit Southwold).
Still to be confirmed
- The 2026 running order: entertainment, switch-on time and grotto hours. Light Up Southwold has published these on the town’s visitor site in past years; this page will be updated when they appear.
- Any 2026 road closure.
Checked against Light Up Southwold’s stallholder listing, Southwold Town Council’s visitor site and East Suffolk Council’s tariffs on 2 October 2026.
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