The 2025 switch-on ran on Saturday 15 November, 6pm to 7pm at Golden Square, the first since 2019. Warrington BID has published nothing for 2026 yet.

No 2026 date has been announced. As of 3 September, Warrington BID, which runs the switch-on with Golden Square, has published nothing about Christmas this year. Its news page stops at 24 August 2026 with a piece about the Mela, its events listing ends on 6 September, and both the URLs that carried last year’s switch-on now redirect to the BID home page. (We Are Warrington)

That matters because the 2025 event was announced very late. The BID’s own announcement went out on 6 November 2025 for an event on 15 November, nine days’ notice. If it repeats that timing, expect the 2026 date in the first week of November.

What happened in 2025, in detail

The switch-on returned to Golden Square on Saturday 15 November 2025, free, from 6pm to 7pm. It was the first one Warrington had held since 2019, after six years away. (Warrington BID, 6 November 2025)

  • CBBC’s Hacker the Dog joined Santa to count down the switch-on
  • Six live performances, including a musical theatre set with songs from Wicked, Matilda, Mamma Mia, The Greatest Showman and The Lion King
  • The evening closed with a Santa-oke singalong
  • The main stage was at Golden Square, Old Market Place, WA1 1QB

The new lights and trees came out of a three-year partnership between Warrington BID and Warrington Borough Council, working with the same creative team behind the Oxford Street displays. Andrea Morley, Warrington BID Project Manager, said it was “fantastic to have the Christmas Lights Switch On back in Warrington for the first time since 2019”.

A three-year partnership announced in 2025 is the strongest single reason to expect the event to run again in 2026, but it is not a confirmation of a date, and nobody has given one.

The weekend around it

The switch-on was the front end of a whole weekend, and that is the part worth planning for if the same shape returns. (Warrington BID, 14 November 2025)

  • Funfair, Saturday 10am to 7pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm
  • Independent Street Markets, over 70 stalls across Horsemarket Street, Market Gate, Buttermarket Street, Bridge Street and Dolmans Lane
  • Winter walkabouts: the Polar Bear and the Snow Queen and King on the Saturday, the Grinch and Cindy Lou on the Sunday, alternating between Time Square and Golden Square through the day
  • Lush penguin bath bomb workshops at 1pm both days, in Golden Square

The wider season, branded Warrington Unwrapped, ran for six to seven weeks to New Year’s Eve and included three weekends of festive markets from 15 to 30 November, Bar Hütte’s alpine village in Golden Square, “The Grinch in Whooville Grotto” in Time Square, and 24 Days of Choirs. (Warrington Unwrapped 2025)

Note that the BID’s own two accounts of the season’s length disagree slightly: the 6 November release calls it “a seven-week celebration”, the 14 November one calls it “a six-week programme”.

Road closures and parking

No road closure order has been published for a 2026 switch-on, because there is no 2026 event to close roads for yet. In 2025 the switch-on itself was staged inside Golden Square’s public space at Old Market Place rather than on a running carriageway, and the BID published no closure notice for it.

The markets that weekend do occupy Horsemarket Street, Market Gate, Buttermarket Street, Bridge Street and Dolmans Lane, so treat the whole pedestrian core as busy rather than closed.

Before you drive in, check parking in Warrington: six council car parks cost nothing at all, and Time Square is free on Sundays. For anything happening on the routes in, see roadworks and travel.

What we are waiting on

The 2026 date, the venue confirmation, the performer line-up and the Warrington Unwrapped programme are all outstanding. On last year’s timing they arrive in early November. We will update this page when the BID publishes, and until then nothing here should be read as a 2026 date.

More of what is on: things to do in Warrington.

Checked 3 September 2026.