Leamington Christmas Lights: 5.30pm, Sunday 15 November

The date is fixed. Leamington’s Christmas lights switch-on is Sunday 15 November 2026 on the Parade, run alongside the town’s Christmas market, according to the event listing published by CJ’s Events Warwickshire, the company that operates Leamington’s markets and the district’s festive events.

Warwick District Council’s own Leamington Lights Big Switch On page now gives the evening programme: free live music, entertainment, food and drink on the Parade from 3pm to 6pm, finishing with the lights at 5.30pm. The Christmas market runs on the same street from 10am.

Updated 3 October: the council has published the 3pm start and the road closures for the day. The stage line-up is still listed as “tbc”.

What is confirmed, and what is not

The times typo. The CJ’s listing for 15 November prints the market hours as “10PM - 5PM”. That is a slip. Every other Leamington Christmas market Sunday on the same site, including 1 November, 22 November and 6 December, reads 10AM to 5PM. Read it as 10am.

Who switches the lights on: you can nominate until 11 October

Warwick District Council and Royal Leamington Spa Town Council opened nominations on 15 September 2026 for a local hero to switch the lights on with the Mayor. Anyone can nominate an individual, family, community group or organisation, and nominations close on Sunday 11 October 2026. Full detail, the form and who decides are in our report: Leamington Christmas lights: nominate by 11 October.

When do the lights actually come on?

5.30pm. BID Leamington’s own 2026 events diary lists “Leamington Christmas Light Switch On (Parade), Sunday 15th November (Lights go on at 5.30 pm)” and adds free off-street parking in Warwick District Council’s car parks and the Royal Priors for the day. That is the same 5.30pm the organisers have published in every recent year, and the stage stands outside the Town Hall.

Updated 21 September 2026. Note the two BID websites are not the same thing: the diary above is on bidleamington.com and is maintained, while its visitor site royal-leamington-spa.co.uk still has four separate switch-on pages live at once, each from a different year, which is why searching for the time returns contradictory answers:

• Its Christmas Market and Light Switch On page is dated 6 November 2022: market 10am to 7pm, music on stage 2pm to 6pm, “Lights Switch on at 5.30pm”, over 80 stalls.
• Its Big Lights Switch On page is Sunday 19 November 2023: market from 10am, stage from 1pm, lights at 5.30pm. This one was organised by Warwick District Council and it promised free parking in all the council’s off-street car parks and in the Royal Priors, with on-street charges still applying.
• Its Leamington Christmas Light Switch On page carries a date field of 16 November 2025 but a body that describes “Parade 17th November 2024”, 2pm to 6pm: bumper yuletide market from 10am, fairground rides, local artists on stage, “Lights will be switched on at 5.30pm, arrive at 5.15pm to see the line-up of people switching on the lights on the stage outside the Town Hall.”
• Its Leamington Big Lights switch on page is dated 17 November 2024 and says only “More information will be available shortly!”

None of those is this year, and none of them is where the 2026 time came from. The stage line-up and the person switching the lights on are still unpublished, and we will add them here when they appear.

Road closures on Sunday 15 November

Warwick District Council lists these closures, with approximate times:

On the lower Parade only traffic heading north is stopped. Vehicles can still come out of Hamilton Terrace, turning left only.

Every Leamington market Sunday to Christmas

CJ’s has published its full 2026 programme for the Parade. The switch-on Sunday is one of seven Christmas market dates, and the autumn markets run through October first.

There is no market on Sunday 8 November. That is Remembrance Sunday.

The other Parade lights night: Diwali, 1 November

Two weeks before the Christmas switch-on, the same street has a different lights night, and this one the council has published in full. The Diwali Lights Switch On runs from 5pm to 8pm on Sunday 1 November 2026 on the Parade, CV32 4AT, free to attend, with a Dhol Tasha performance and Bollywood music and dance. Warwick District Council says the Diwali light will be switched on at 7pm by Councillor Naveen Tangri and Councillor Hema Yellapragada with other community representatives. The Christmas market is on the Parade the same day. Our Diwali lights page has the detail.

Parking and getting there

CJ’s names four car parks for the Parade events: St Peter’s multi-storey (CV32 5EL), Royal Priors (CV32 4XT), Bedford Street (CV32 5DT) and Covent Garden (CV32 5QB). The nearest public toilets it lists are in the Royal Priors shopping centre.

BID Leamington’s diary says off-street parking is free on the day in Warwick District Council’s car parks and the Royal Priors. On-street bays are not mentioned, so assume normal charges there. Check our Leamington parking page for the car park list, and the roadworks and travel page before you drive in: the Parade, Warwick Street and part of Regent Street are shut from midnight.

The other switch-ons in the district

Warwick District Council has now published the rest of the festive programme, each free:

• Warwick Victorian Evening, Thursday 26 November, 3pm to 9pm in Market Place, lights on at 7pm. Detail on our Victorian Evening page.
• Kenilworth High Street switch-on, Friday 27 November, 5pm to 8pm, lights on at 6pm, with the High Street closed from 3pm to 10pm between New Street and Malthouse Lane (council page).
• Abbey End Festive Hub, Kenilworth, Saturday 28 November, 10am to 5pm, with stalls, funfair rides, a brass band and choir from 1pm to 3pm and Santa (council page).
• Whitnash switch-on, Sunday 29 November, 3pm to 6.30pm at Whitnash Civic Centre, Acre Close, CV31 2ND, lights on at 6pm, with Acre Close shut from 1pm to 8pm (council page).

Every date and time above was checked against the organiser’s or the council’s own published page on 3 October 2026. Tell us if something changes: hello@theleamingtonpost.co.uk.