Epsom's switch-on is Friday 20 November 2026 on the Market Place, 4pm to 9pm, lights at 6.30pm with the Mayor and Snow White cast. Free. Plus Ewell on 28 Nov.

The Epsom Christmas lights switch-on is on Friday 20 November 2026 on Epsom Market Place, from 4pm to 9pm, with the lights on at 6.30pm. It is free. The borough council’s own listing says it will have “our usual festive programme, including funfair rides, market stalls, live entertainment on the stage and the official Christmas Light Switch On at 6.30pm led by the Mayor and the cast of Snow White”. The council is also marking its 90th anniversary on the night.

Updated 3 October: the council has published the 2026 Market Place date. It is back on a Friday evening, as in 2023, rather than the Sunday daytime used in 2025.

Epsom Market Place: Friday 20 November 2026

  • When: Friday 20 November 2026, 4pm to 9pm. Lights on at 6.30pm.
  • Where: Epsom Market Place, at the top of the High Street.
  • Cost: free to attend, says the council. The funfair rides are a separate matter; no ride prices are published.
  • Who switches on: the Mayor of Epsom and Ewell and the cast of Snow White, this year’s Epsom Playhouse pantomime.
  • Contact: the council’s events team on 01372 732000.

One quirk to ignore: the “Venue” box on the council’s listing gives Bourne Hall’s address, while the text of the same listing says Epsom Market Place. The text is the event; Bourne Hall has its own switch-on eight days later.

The other switch-ons

Epsom and Ewell does not have one switch-on. It has five. They are on different days, in different places, run by different people, and in 2025 they were spread across a fortnight. Two have 2026 dates: Epsom Market Place on Friday 20 November and Bourne Hall, Ewell, on Saturday 28 November, 3pm to 6.30pm (Bourne Hall, “more information to follow”, checked 3 October 2026). The Ashley Centre, Epsom Square and Stoneleigh Broadway have not published 2026 dates; their 2025 details are below so you know which is which when they do.

The 2025 dates, in order

Ashley Centre, Epsom: Saturday 15 November 2025

The shopping centre goes first and runs its own event, separate from the town one. In 2025 it ran 11am to 4.30pm, with the lights switched on at 4.30pm. The published programme was retailer demonstrations from 11am including The Fragrance Shop, Boots and Waitrose, then family activities from 1pm with a giant game of pass the parcel and performances from NESCOT and Epsom Playhouse.

Epsom Square: Saturday 22 November 2025

The newest of the five and the least conventional. In 2025 it ran 10am to late with the switch-on at 5pm, built around cosplay and comics rather than carols: cosplay meet-ups and parades, live music and choirs, a Christmas fair inside Metropolis Foodhall, workshops with Epsom Library Con and screenings at Epsom Picturehouse.

Epsom Market Place: Sunday 23 November 2025

This is the one most people mean by “the Epsom switch-on”. It is run by Epsom and Ewell Borough Council in partnership with Go Epsom, and in 2025 it ran 10.30am to 4.30pm with the lights on at 4.30pm, led by the Mayor of Epsom and Ewell and the cast of that year’s Epsom Playhouse pantomime.

The 2025 programme split across two sites: performances from local dance schools, a community choir, entertainers and a visit from Inka the Polar Bear in the Ashley Centre, and family rides, charity stalls, seasonal stalls and food stalls on the Market Place. The fair and stalls carried on into the evening after the lights went on.

In 2023 the same Market Place event was on a Friday, 24 November, from 4pm to 9pm with the lights on at 6.30pm, according to Go Epsom’s own Christmas listing. The 2026 event goes back to exactly that shape: Friday, 4pm to 9pm, lights at 6.30pm.

Stoneleigh Broadway: Friday 28 November 2025

“Light on Broadway” filled the whole of Stoneleigh Broadway with stalls and children’s entertainment, 4pm to 8pm. It also runs a Christmas colouring competition judged by the Mayor and Mayoress, with entries handed in at Art-K, Poltsa Boutique, the Scout Shop or Stoneleigh Library on the Broadway.

Bourne Hall, Ewell: Saturday 29 November 2025

Ewell’s own, and the last of the five. In 2025 it ran 4pm to 7.30pm with the lights switched on at 5.15pm by the Deputy Mayor of Epsom and Ewell alongside Santa. The programme was live music and dance schools on a main stage, market and craft stalls, food from The Flying Saucer Cafe, the pantomime cast, and the grand opening of Santa’s grotto. It is free and outdoors, and the council advised dressing warmly and arriving early.

Banstead, Cheam and Sutton hold their own events on nearby dates. They are in different boroughs, so they are not covered here.

When the rest of the 2026 dates should appear

The council listed the 2026 Market Place date seven weeks ahead, much earlier than last year, when its Bourne Hall announcement came on 4 November 2025 and its Market Place one on 10 November 2025. Expect the Ashley Centre, Epsom Square and Stoneleigh dates by early November. Go Epsom’s dedicated Christmas page has not been updated since 22 November 2023, so it is not a reliable place to watch.

The Market Place and Bourne Hall switch-ons are both led by the cast of the Epsom Playhouse pantomime, and the 2026/27 show is Snow White, running from 11 December. See our Epsom pantomime page for the full schedule.

Free parking over Christmas

In 2025 the council opened selected car parks for free on set days. The pattern is worth knowing, though these were 2025 dates and have not been reissued for 2026:

  • 5 December: Dorset House and Ewell High Street free from 4pm until 7am the next morning
  • 7, 14 and 21 December: all council car parks free all day
  • 25 December: all council car parks free all day
  • 26 December: Dorset House and Ewell High Street free all day

One thing to be careful with: the council’s 2025 notice repeated that Hook Road car park is closed on Sundays, but the borough’s own March 2026 off-street parking order opened it on Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Our parking in Epsom page sets out which document wins.

What it means for you

  • The town switch-on is Friday 20 November 2026 on Epsom Market Place, 4pm to 9pm, lights at 6.30pm, free.
  • Ewell’s is Saturday 28 November at Bourne Hall, 3pm to 6.30pm.
  • The Ashley Centre, Epsom Square and Stoneleigh have no 2026 dates yet; anyone quoting one is quoting last year.
  • It is a Friday evening, so expect after-work traffic; free parking days for 2026 have not been announced.
  • If you are coming into town for it, our roadworks and travel page covers what is dug up.

Sources

More from Epsom Today: things to do in Epsom, parking in Epsom and roadworks and travel.