The Dickensian Evening is Wantage’s big night of the year. The Market Place and the streets around it close to traffic, the Christmas lights are switched on, and the town centre fills with carols, theatre, music, Morris dancing, market stalls and shops staying open late. It is Victorian-themed and free.
It is usually on the first Friday in December, from 4pm to 9pm. In 2026 that is Friday 4 December.
What happens
- The Christmas lights switch-on by the tree in the Market Place, in the early evening (6pm in 2025).
- A stage in the Market Place with music, a show by Jigsaw Stage and communal carol singing, and more music on Newbury Street.
- Morris dancing around the town centre.
- Stalls, mulled wine and mince pies, and shops, cafés and pubs staying open late, many with festive extras.
- At the Parish Church, in recent years: festive songs from local schoolchildren, stalls with mulled wine, mince pies, books and a chocolate tombola, a quiet reflection space and a candle-lit nativity.
- At the Vale & Downland Museum, in recent years: live music, a tombola, market stalls in the barn gallery, the coffee shop, and Father Christmas (booking needed, with a small charge per child).
The organisers publish each year’s programme in the weeks before. We add it here as soon as it is out.
