Eastbourne's Christmas lights go on at 6pm on Saturday 28 November on Terminus Road, after a Christmas market and live music from 9am. Line-up still to come.

Eastbourne’s 2026 Christmas lights switch-on is on Saturday 28 November, on Terminus Road, from 9am to 7pm, and the lights go on at 6pm. That is the date and time on Visit Eastbourne’s listing, which is run by Eastbourne Borough Council. It promises live music, children’s activities and a Christmas market from 9am, then “an afternoon of festive fun and the big switch on of the town’s Christmas lights at 6pm”.

Updated 21 October: Visit Eastbourne’s listing now gives the switch-on time, 6pm, the same as in 2025. The stage line-up and who throws the switch are still to be announced.

Updated 7 October: Visit Eastbourne has now listed the 2026 event for Saturday 28 November, 9am to 7pm. The exact switch-on time and the line-up are not out yet.

The date fits the pattern: the switch-on was the last Saturday in November in both 2024 (30 November) and 2025 (29 November). What has not been published yet is the stage line-up or who throws the switch. The 6pm switch-on matches 2025, when the running order was published on 25 November. We will add the 2026 programme here when it is out.

Where it happens

Terminus Road, in the pedestrian precinct, with the countdown at Bankers Corner. That has not moved in years, and the postcode on the listing is BN21 3NE. The Terminus Road Phase 2a works are still under way in that stretch, so the layout may be different this year even if the location is not; our Eastbourne roadworks and travel page tracks where those works have got to.

What the day looks like

Running order for Eastbourne's Christmas lights switch-on in 2025 on Terminus Road: the Christmas market opened at 9am, live music ran from noon with Carys Mai, Joanna Rose Barton, The Abba Girls, the Eastbourne Silver Band and Sam Hughes as Elton, a laser performance at 5pm, Sound of the Crowd from 5.20pm, the Christmas Light Procession with Eastbourne Bonfire Society and the switch-on at 6pm, and music again until 7pm
Graphic by Eastbourne Live, from the 2025 running order published by Visit Eastbourne and Eastbourne News. The 2026 line-up has not been announced.
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Two sources give slightly different opening times for the same 2025 day, and both are worth knowing. Visit Eastbourne’s listing says the Christmas market was in place from 9am. Eastbourne News reported the event itself as running 12pm to 7pm along Terminus Road. The sensible reading is that the stalls opened first and the stage programme started at noon.

The 2025 running order, identical in both sources:

Time Act
12pm to 1pm Carys Mai
1pm to 2pm Joanna Rose Barton
2pm to 3pm The Abba Girls
3pm to 4pm Eastbourne Silver Band
4pm to 5pm Sam Hughes as Elton
5pm to 5.20pm Laser performance
5.20pm to 6pm Sound of the Crowd
6pm to 6.20pm Christmas Light Procession with Eastbourne Bonfire Society and guests, lights on at 6pm
6.20pm to 7pm Sound of the Crowd

Note who walks the procession: Eastbourne Bonfire Society, the same people behind Eastbourne Bonfire Night on 3 October.

The Christmas market

The market is part of the switch-on day rather than a separate multi-day event, which is the thing most people get wrong when they search for an Eastbourne Christmas market. In 2025 it ran on Terminus Road with more than 40 stalls, selling festive food and drink, handmade crafts, Christmas gifts and local produce.

If you are looking for a market that runs for weeks, Eastbourne does not have one. It has one very busy Saturday.

What else happens on the night

The unveiling of the Panto Christmas Light has been a fixture of the build-up, immediately before the main switch-on. It ties the evening to the Devonshire Park Theatre pantomime, which in 2026 is Cinderella, running from 11 December 2026 to 17 January 2027.

The 2025 event was sponsored by Lightning Fibre and Your Eastbourne. The high-street displays and the LED Christmas tree are funded by local businesses through the Your Eastbourne BID, whose operations manager was quoted thanking stallholders after the 2024 event. Sponsors and the BID are worth watching, because they tend to announce the date before the listings sites do.

Getting there and parking

Terminus Road is the town’s main shopping street and the closest car parks fill early on a switch-on Saturday. The cost gap in Eastbourne is wide enough to be worth a short walk: two hours at Devonshire Park is £2.10 against £7.05 for two hours in a central on-street bay. Hyde Gardens is free on Sundays but the switch-on has always been a Saturday, so it will be charging. Full tariffs and the free bays are on our parking in Eastbourne page.

Eastbourne station is a five minute walk from Bankers Corner, which for an evening event that finishes at 7pm is usually the easier option.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Eastbourne Christmas lights switch-on 2026?

Saturday 28 November 2026, on Terminus Road, with the event running from 9am to 7pm according to Visit Eastbourne’s listing.

What time do the lights come on?

6pm, according to Visit Eastbourne’s 2026 listing; the event closes at 7pm. In 2025 the switch-on was also at 6pm at Bankers Corner on Terminus Road, at the start of a Christmas Light Procession that ran to 6.20pm.

Is there an Eastbourne Christmas market?

Yes, but only on switch-on day. In 2025 it was more than 40 stalls along Terminus Road, open from 9am.

Is the switch-on free?

Yes. It is an open street event with no ticket.

Who switches the lights on?

It changes each year and is usually announced with the programme. In 2024 it was the local singer Summer Murphy, with support from the Devonshire Park pantomime cast, according to Sussex Express.

Sources