Christmas Lights Switch-Ons 2026 Outside London: Belfast, Newcastle, Cardiff, Manchester

Belfast City Council lists the Christmas lights switch-on at Belfast City Hall for Saturday 14 November 2026, 6.30pm to 7.30pm, and Newcastle’s Christmas site gives Thursday 12 November for its own switch-on, while Nation.Cymru reported on 17 September 2026 that Cardiff’s lights are due the same Thursday. Manchester’s Christmas Markets already opened on Friday 6 November 2026, and no Manchester lights event is listed. The table has each date with the weekday, the place and the Eastern Time (ET) conversion, and a printable follows.

Official times are in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which is five hours ahead of ET in November. Five lights and market events fall between 12 and 14 November: Cardiff’s lights and Winter Wonderland and Newcastle’s lights on Thursday, Belfast’s market and switch-on on Saturday. For the London streets, see the London Christmas lights switch-on dates.

Which Christmas lights events are set outside London?

Date	City and event	UK time (GMT)	ET	Place	Cost	Source
Thu 12 Nov	Cardiff lights switch-on	Not announced	Not given	Not announced	Not listed	Nation.Cymru, citing Cardiff Council
Thu 12 Nov	Newcastle lights switch-on	Not listed	Not given	Not listed	Not listed	Newcastle’s Christmas
Thu 12 Nov	Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland opens (to Sun 3 Jan 2027)	17:00 to 22:00 on the first day	12 p.m. to 5 p.m.	Cardiff Castle and City Hall, with an ice rink and ice walk	Not listed	Visit Cardiff
Sat 14 Nov	Belfast Christmas Market opens	12 noon	7 a.m.	Belfast	Not listed	Belfast City Council
Sat 14 Nov	Belfast City Hall switch-on	6.30pm to 7.30pm (gates 6pm)	1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (gates 1 p.m.)	Belfast City Hall	Free, all tickets allocated	Belfast City Council
Thu 19 Nov	Newcastle Christmas Markets open (to Wed 23 Dec)	10am to 8pm Mon to Sat, 10am to 5pm Sun	5 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sun 5 a.m. to 12 p.m.	Newcastle	Not listed	Newcastle’s Christmas
Thu 19 Nov	Christmas at Bute Park, Cardiff (to 31 Dec)	16:15 to 20:30	11:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.	Bute Park	Ticketed	Visit Cardiff
Tue 22 Dec	Manchester Christmas Markets end	Not listed	Not given	City centre	Not listed	Visit Manchester

The ET column is our conversion of the published GMT times. Cardiff’s page says hours vary by week and site and to check before travelling, and the Winter Wonderland closes on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Belfast City Hall switch-on: time, gates and tickets

Belfast City Council’s page gives “Saturday 14 November 2026, 6.30pm to 7.30pm”, with gates opening at 6pm, at Belfast City Hall. The event is free, but the council says “All tickets are now allocated for our Christmas Lights switch-on.” The council also says the Christmas Market opens at 12 noon on the same day. It has not announced the market’s closing date or hours. The photo above is a file photo from 2014.

Cardiff lights and Winter Wonderland dates

Cardiff Council’s own page was blocked to us, so the lights date rests on one report. Nation.Cymru wrote on 17 September 2026 that the city’s festive lights were “due to come on on November 12”, citing the council, with no time or venue given. Visit Cardiff, the city’s tourism site, lists Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland “from Thursday 12 November to Sunday 3 January 2027”, with an ice rink and ice walk at Cardiff Castle and City Hall. Its first-day hours are 17:00 to 22:00, and it is closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Christmas at Bute Park runs 19 November to 31 December 2026, 16:15 to 20:30, and is ticketed.

Newcastle lights and market dates

Newcastle’s Christmas site lists the Christmas Lights Switch On for Thursday 12 November 2026 and gives no time or venue yet. Its Christmas Markets “officially open on Thursday 19th November and will be in place until Wednesday 23rd December”, 10am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sundays.

Is there a Manchester Christmas lights switch-on?

Visit Manchester lists no 2026 switch-on event. It says “Manchester Christmas Markets will open on Friday 6 November 2026 and run until Tuesday 22 December 2026”, with Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens running to Sunday 3 January 2027. Northern Lights at Heaton Park runs 19 November to 31 December 2026; the page gives no times. Dates and hours for the stalls are in our Manchester and Birmingham Christmas markets story.

Which cities have not announced a switch-on?

City	Status
Liverpool	City centre switch-on not announced; Visit Liverpool says the Liverpool One decorations run “From Friday 6th November”
Birmingham (Victoria Square), Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh	No 2026 lights date confirmed
Bristol, Sheffield, York, Nottingham, Bath	No 2026 lights date confirmed

Market dates for York, Bath, Cardiff, Lincoln and Belfast are in the UK Christmas markets 2026 story.

Christmas lights dates to mark on the calendar

The printable lists the seven dated events above. Add them to the November 2026 printable calendar; the Manchester market end date falls on the December 2026 printable calendar. For the holiday itself, see when is Christmas Day.

We checked the official pages on 8 November 2026 and will update the table when Cardiff and Newcastle publish times and venues.