The organiser's own site still shows 13 December 2025. Lymm's community site expects Saturday 12 December 2026, the second Saturday, but nobody has confirmed it.

The 2026 date is not confirmed. The organiser’s website, lymm-dickensian.org, is still showing last year’s event: “Join us between 10am and 5pm on Saturday 13th December 2025”, under a banner celebrating 40 years. Its footer still reads 2025. Nothing on it mentions 2026.

The best available answer comes from the village community site lymm.uk, which lists the festival for Saturday 12 December 2026 but labels it plainly: “2026 details tbc, assumed will be on 12/12/2026 (the second Saturday in December)”. (lymm.uk)

That assumption holds up against the recent record. Dickensian Day fell on the second Saturday of December in 2025, which was 13 December, and 12 December 2026 is the second Saturday this year. Treat it as very likely and not as booked.

What the day looks like

Everything below is the 2025 programme, published by lymm.uk and marked there as subject to change. It is a reliable picture of the shape of the day, not a 2026 schedule.

Activity Times Where
Park and ride from Lymm High School 10am to 4.30pm High School to village centre
Stalls 11am to 4.30pm Village centre, Village Hall, LYCC
Santa’s Grotto 10am to 11.30am, 2.30pm to 4pm Village Hall, Pepper Street
Morris dancers 11am to 4.30pm, various Village centre
Punch and Judy 11am to 4.30pm, various Village centre
Santa Dash 1.30pm to 2.30pm Brookfield Road to Eagle Brow to village
The Grand Parade 1.30pm to 2.30pm Brookfield Road to Eagle Brow to village
Best Dressed presentation 2.45pm to 3.30pm Village centre
Canal boat flotilla approx 4.30pm to 5pm Ridgeway Grundy through the village

Three Morris sides take part: Lymm Morris, Earl of Stamford Morris and Bollin Morris. The Santa Dash is organised by Lymm Runners and sets off at the same time as the parade, with participants lining up along Brookfield Road. Lymm Sings performs three slots, in the village centre, the Methodist Church on Eagle Brow and the Golden Fleece. Lymm Concert Band plays at the United Reformed Church from 2pm. Mix 56 has broadcast live from the village centre in recent years.

The two sources disagree on the hours

This is worth flagging, because it changes when you should arrive. The organiser says the day runs 10am to 5pm with the village centre closed to traffic 9am to 5pm. lymm.uk says the centre is closed to through traffic 8am to 5.30pm, with stalls from 10am and events from 11am, and its road closure table starts at 7am.

Nobody has reconciled those. Plan on the wider window.

Road closures, 2025 pattern

lymm.uk published the full closure schedule for 2025, in three tiers.

  • 7am to 6pm: Eagle Brow to Lymm Cross, Whitbarrow Road, Bridgewater Street, Henry Street, The Dingle and The Grove
  • 12.30pm to 2.30pm, additionally: Brookfield Road from Whitbarrow Road to Eagle Brow, Maltmans Road, Brookfield Close and the Davies Way exit onto Brookfield Road
  • 1pm to 2.30pm, additionally: the Rectory Lane exit to The Cross, Lymm Bridge, New Road, Dane Bank Road, the Golden Fleece car park exit and The Square. Pepper Street access is via Rectory Lane during this window.

The site warns these are approximate and closures may go in earlier or come off later.

Parking and the free park and ride

Village centre parking is limited, fills early, and some village car parks are not available at all on the day. The free park and ride runs from Lymm High School, Oughtrington Lane, Lymm, WA13 0BR, on a round robin into the village.

The two sources disagree here too, and this one can strand you. lymm.uk says the last bus back from the village is 4.30pm and that the High School car park is locked at 5pm. The organiser says the service runs until 5pm and that the gates are locked at 5pm. If the buses stop at 4.30pm and the gates shut at 5pm, a 4.45pm departure from the village leaves you walking. Give yourself the earlier deadline.

Residents living near the High School are also welcome to use the free bus.

For the rest of the borough, our parking in Warrington page covers council car park tariffs, including the three in Lymm village that charge three different amounts for a long stay. Check roadworks and travel before you set off.

Getting there without a car

Lymm is on the Cat5 bus between Warrington and Altrincham, via Thelwall and Warburton. The nearest railway stations are Warrington, Altrincham and Irlam, none of them in the village. By road, leave the M6 at junction 21 or the M56 at junction 9.

What we are waiting on

The confirmed 2026 date, the programme, the parade time and the road closure order. The organiser’s site has not been updated since 2025, so the first sign of movement is likely to be its Facebook page, which lymm.uk says carries last-minute changes. We will update this page when the date is published.

More of the season: things to do in Warrington.

Checked 3 September 2026.