Twickenham lights up Friday 20 November: carols 4.30pm, Green tree 5pm, main switch-on 6pm by St Mary's. Teddington is 26 November; Richmond has no date yet.
There is no single Christmas lights switch-on in Richmond upon Thames. Each town centre runs its own, on its own night, organised by its own business group, and the dates land within a week of each other in late November.
Two are fixed for 2026. One is not, and the reason is worth knowing if you are planning around it.
Updated 20 October: Twickenham’s full running order is out. Carols on the Green at 4.30pm, the Green tree at 5pm and the main switch-on at 6pm, with the music stage moved to Church Lane by St Mary’s Church. Teddington still says “details to follow” and Be Richmond has still not given a date.
Twickenham: Friday 20 November
Twickenham goes first. The VisitRichmond listing for Discover Twickenham’s event says the Christmas Light Up Events take place on Friday 20 November 2026, with the lights around the town switched on at 6pm, accompanied by music.
The running order is now on the same listing, checked on 20 October. The event is free and runs from 3pm to 7pm:
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 2pm to 8pm | Patch’s Christmas Makers Market, 42 York Street |
| 3.30pm to 6.30pm | Free face painting at Patch |
| 3.30pm to 7pm | Live music on the Riverside Radio Stage |
| 4.30pm | Christmas carols on Twickenham Green |
| 5pm | Twickenham Green Christmas tree switch-on |
| 6pm | Main lights switch-on across town, with a countdown at the Riverside Radio Stage |
The stage has moved this year. The listing puts it at the top of Church Lane where it meets Church Street, opposite St Mary’s Church, so that is where to stand for the 6pm countdown. VisitRichmond’s own map puts Twickenham Green about 0.6 miles from the town centre point, so the 5pm tree and the 6pm countdown can both be done on foot, with a brisk 15-minute walk in between.
Teddington: Thursday 26 November
Teddington Together has put Thursday 26 November 2026 on its site as the date for Teddington Lights Up 2026. The page carries the date and the location and nothing else: the words underneath it are “details to follow”.
Teddington’s version is usually the busiest street event of the three, with stalls along the High Street and Broad Street, so the timings matter. Expect them in late October or early November.
Richmond town centre: no date yet
Be Richmond, the business improvement district that runs George Street, had still not published a 2026 date when we checked on 20 October. Its press page carries no festive release, and its events listing is empty of Christmas entries.
What exists is last year’s. The VisitRichmond listing for Be Festive is marked as passed and describes a Thursday 27 November event on George Street, running 4pm to 6pm, with performers from 5pm and the switch-on itself at 5.45pm with the Mayor of Richmond. The 27th falls on a Thursday in 2025 and a Friday in 2026, so that is the 2025 evening, not a preview of this one.
If Be Richmond keeps to the same weekday, the 2026 date would be either the 26th, the same night as Teddington, or the following week. We will update this page when it is announced.
East Twickenham and Richmond Bridge have run a lights event at the Richmond Road end in past years. Its listing is also marked as passed with no 2026 date.
The dates that are already fixed
The switch-ons are not the only thing happening in the borough that fortnight, and two of them sell out.
| From | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 13 Nov 2026 | Christmas at Kew opens, runs to 3 Jan | Kew Gardens |
| Fri 20 Nov 2026 | Twickenham lights switch-on, 6pm | Twickenham town centre |
| Fri 20 Nov 2026 | Hampton Court Palace ice rink opens, runs to 3 Jan | Hampton Court Palace |
| Thu 26 Nov 2026 | Teddington Lights Up | Teddington |
| Sat 28 Nov 2026 | Winter Palace and The Christmas Beast Ball open, run to 3 Jan | Hampton Court Palace |
| Sat 28 Nov 2026 | The Robin’s Tale opens, runs to 3 Jan | Ham House and Garden |
| Sat 5 Dec 2026 | Jack and the Beanstalk opens, runs to 3 Jan | Richmond Theatre |
The Kew, Hampton Court and Ham House dates come from the borough’s own Christmas and New Year events listing; the pantomime run is from ATG’s Richmond Theatre listing, which gives Saturday 5 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027.
Getting there and parking
The switch-ons all sit on shopping streets that are hard to park near on a Friday evening, and the last weekend of November is also the Nations Championship finals weekend at Allianz Stadium, which puts the Twickenham event-day parking zone in force from 11am to 11pm on 27, 28 and 29 November.
For tariffs and zones the rest of the time, see our parking in Richmond page. For anything closed on the night, see roadworks and travel.
Sources
- Twickenham Christmas Lights, VisitRichmond, carrying Discover Twickenham’s 2026 statement
- Teddington Lights Up 2026, Teddington Together
- Be Festive Richmond Christmas Light Switch On, VisitRichmond, marked as passed
- Christmas and New Year events, VisitRichmond
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