Cheltenham Christmas Market runs 10 to 23 December on the Promenade, with 40 wooden stalls and free entry. Parking is free from 3pm on the 10th. No ice rink.
Cheltenham’s Christmas market returns to the Promenade for fourteen days, from Thursday 10 to Wednesday 23 December 2026. The council calls it an “extended period”. There are 40 wooden stalls and entry is free. It overlaps with a new festive film projection on the Municipal Offices, which runs from 3 to 16 December. The ice rink is not coming back this year.
The quick answer
The Cheltenham Christmas Market is on the Promenade from Thursday 10 to Wednesday 23 December 2026, with 40 wooden stalls and free entry. It is run by Cotswold Markets. The tourism listing gives opening hours of 10am to 5pm every day. Council car parks in the town centre are free from 3pm on Thursday 10 December, the market’s first day and a late-night shopping evening.
The market
Cotswold Markets runs the market. It says 40 chalets will fill the Promenade, with a mixture of local craft producers and Christmas gifts, and a small number of catering units (Cotswold Markets, Cheltenham Christmas Market). Visit Cheltenham’s listing adds that the stalls include festive food and mulled wine, and that entrance is free (Visit Cheltenham, Cheltenham Christmas Market).
The council confirmed the dates in September and says the market “returns to The Promenade, for an extended period of time, 10 - 23 December, featuring 40 wooden market stalls” (Cheltenham Borough Council, September 2026).
Opening hours are not on the organiser’s own page yet. The shared Cotswolds and Cheltenham tourism listing gives 10am to 5pm, seven days a week, across the whole run (Cotswolds.com listing). Treat that as a guide until Cotswold Markets publishes its own times. Stallholder applications were still open when we checked, so the final line-up is not known.
The rest of Christmas in the town centre
The council’s September announcement sets out the whole programme (Cheltenham Borough Council):
| What | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas lights on | From Saturday 21 November | Town centre, run by Cheltenham BID |
| Festive film projection | 3 to 16 December, each evening as darkness falls | Front of the Municipal Offices, Promenade |
| Late-night shopping | Thursday 3 and Thursday 10 December | Shops that sign up, including John Lewis and Marks and Spencer |
| Free parking from 3pm | Thursday 3 and Thursday 10 December | Eight town centre council car parks, not Regent Arcade |
| Christmas market | 10 to 23 December | The Promenade |
The eight car parks in the free-from-3pm offer are Chelt Walk, St James Street, Rodney Road, High Street, Town Centre East (which closes at 8pm), Royal Well, Sherborne Place and Bath Parade. The offer is funded by the BID. Our parking in Cheltenham page has the normal tariffs.
Thursday 10 December is the evening to go. The market opens that day, the projection is running, shops are open late and parking is free from 3pm. It is the only day in 2026 when all four happen at once.
No ice rink this year
The council says the ice rink “will not return to Cheltenham” this Christmas. Its three-year contract has ended, and rather than sign another long-term deal, it chose to try new events. Councillor Izaac Tailford, the cabinet member for culture, pointed to “significant rises in costs and the changing shape of local government” (Cheltenham Borough Council).
Other Christmas dates in Cheltenham
- Brewery Quarter Christmas Launch Party: Saturday 21 November, 2pm to 8pm (Visit Cheltenham).
- Pittville Pump Room Christmas lights switch-on: the weekend of 27 and 28 November. See our Christmas lights page.
- The Christmas Meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse: Friday 11 and Saturday 12 December (Visit Cheltenham).
- Pantomimes: Cinderella at the Everyman from 27 November, and Peter Pan at the Playhouse from 11 December. See Cheltenham pantomimes.
- Meeting Santa: steam trains from Toddington and the grotto at Webbs. See Santa in Cheltenham.
Getting there by train or bus over Christmas: Cheltenham Christmas trains and buses.
Still to confirm
Cotswold Markets’ own opening hours and the list of stallholders. We will check again in mid-November.
Checked on 25 September 2026 against Cheltenham Borough Council, Cotswold Markets and Visit Cheltenham.
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