Friday 4 December 2026, 4.30pm to 9.15pm across the town centre, free, with Santa's grotto and a funfair on the Commons car park. Parking and what is TBC.

The Market Harborough Christmas Fayre is on Friday 4 December 2026, from 4.30pm to 9.15pm, across the town centre, and entry is free. Harborough District Council put the date in its festive diary on 12 October, and its tourism site, Visit Harborough, lists the times and the programme. (Harborough District Council, 12 October 2026; Visit Harborough, Market Harborough Christmas Fayre)

The quick answer

  • Is it on this year? Yes. Friday 4 December 2026, confirmed by the council.
  • Times: 4.30pm to 9.15pm.
  • Where: Market Harborough town centre, with a funfair on the Commons car park.
  • Cost: free entry.
  • What is on: craft, food and drink stalls, stilt walkers, live music, Santa’s grotto and the elves’ workshop.
  • Not yet published: road closures, a stall map, grotto prices and the running order.

What the council has published

Visit Harborough, which Harborough District Council runs, describes the evening in two lines: “Craft, food and drink stalls, stilt walkers, live music, Santas grotto and the elves workshop. Funfair on the Commons Carpark and much more and free entry.” That is all that is out so far. It does not say whether the grotto is free or charged, and it names no performers.

The council has called the fayre “independently-run” in the past, so it is not a council event in the way the lights switch-on is. In 2021 it said it was waiving parking charges from 4pm “to support the organisers of the independently-run Market Harborough Christmas Fayre”, without naming them. (Harborough District Council, 9 November 2021)

It is always a Friday in early December

Market Harborough Christmas Fayre dates, from Harborough District Council's own announcements
YearDateTimes
2021Friday 3 December5pm to 9pm
2025Friday 5 DecemberNot given in the council's diary
2026Friday 4 December4.30pm to 9.15pm

Sources: council news, 9 November 2021; council news, 15 October 2025; council news, 12 October 2026.

Parking

  • The Commons car park (LE16 9DB) is the town’s biggest short stay car park, with 256 spaces. This year the funfair is on it, so expect far fewer spaces there, and possibly none, on the day. The council has not said how much of it the funfair will take.
  • Council car parks charge from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday. The fayre starts at 4.30pm, so arriving at the start means paying for up to an hour and a half; after 6pm parking in a council car park is free.
  • The 2021 parking waiver from 4pm was for that year. The council has announced nothing like it for 2026, so do not count on it.

Every car park, with its tariff and number of spaces, is on our parking in Market Harborough page.

Road closures

None published yet. For the lights switch-on, the council usually closes the bridge on Northampton Road, St Mary’s Road at Adam and Eve Street, and High Street at Coventry Road, and posts the list a few weeks before. It has not published a closure for the fayre in any year we can find. We will add one here if it appears. Live closures across the district are on our roadworks and travel page.

The same weekend

  • Thursday 3 December: Farmers’ Market on The Square, the day before.
  • Saturday 5 December: Small Business Saturday, in the council’s festive diary, and the Broughton Astley Christmas Fayre, with the village’s Santa Dash and Dawdle on Sunday 6 December.
  • Sunday 6 December: a Christmas Craft and Shopping Fayre at The Three Swans Hotel, High Street, listed on Visit Harborough for 10.30am to 3pm.

Earlier in the season come the lights switch-on on Saturday 21 November, the Kelmarsh Hall Christmas Fair from 27 to 29 November, and every grotto we have found on our Santa’s grotto page. The full diary is on what’s on in Market Harborough.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Market Harborough Christmas Fayre 2026?

Friday 4 December 2026, from 4.30pm to 9.15pm, across the town centre. Harborough District Council confirmed the date on 12 October.

Is the Christmas Fayre free?

Entry is free, according to the council’s Visit Harborough listing. The listing does not say whether Santa’s grotto or the funfair rides are charged.

Where is the funfair?

On the Commons car park (LE16 9DB), according to the council’s listing.

Will roads be closed?

The council has not published any road closures for the fayre. This page will carry them if it does.

This page will be updated as the organisers publish the running order, the grotto details and any road closures.

Sources