St Albans Christmas markets 2026: the Cathedral on 7 Nov, the Cracker's 100 stalls on 22 Nov, Redbourn on the 29th and extra December market days, all dated.
St Albans does not have a German-style Christmas market that runs for weeks. What it has is a run of one-day markets from early November to Christmas Eve, and one big day: the Christmas Cracker on Sunday 22 November, when the council closes the city centre to traffic and fills it with about 100 stalls. Every date below is from the organiser’s own listing, read on 6 October 2026.
The quick answer
- The main St Albans Christmas market is the Christmas Cracker, Sunday 22 November, noon to 6pm. It is free, with about 100 stalls, a free Santa’s grotto and fairground rides, and the central streets are closed from 6am to 9pm (St Albans Christmas Cracker, Enjoy St Albans)
- The first is the Cathedral’s Artisan Christmas Market, Saturday 7 November, 11am to 3pm, with 70+ stalls in the Nave. It is free, but you need a ticket (Pop Up Creative Events)
- The council adds eight extra market days in December on top of the usual Wednesdays and Saturdays, finishing on Christmas Eve (St Albans City and District Council)
Every Christmas market, by date
| Date | Market | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 7 Nov, 11am to 3pm | Cathedral Artisan Christmas Market | St Albans Cathedral | Free, ticket needed |
| Sun 15 Nov, 10am to 3pm | Sustainability Market, festive theme | Harpenden Common | Free |
| Sun 22 Nov, noon to 6pm | Christmas Cracker | St Albans city centre | Free |
| Sun 22 Nov, noon to 6pm | Harpenden Christmas Carnival | Harpenden town centre | Free |
| Fri 27 to Sun 29 Nov, 9.30am to 4pm | Knebworth Christmas Fair | Knebworth House | Adults from £8 |
| Sun 29 Nov, 11am to 5pm | Redbourn Christmas Market | Redbourn High Street | Free |
| Sat 5 Dec, 10am to 4pm | Creative Christmas Market | St Albans Museum + Gallery | Free |
| Sun 6 Dec, 9am to 3pm | Antique and Vintage Market | St Peter’s Street | Free |
| 10 to 24 Dec, 9am to 3pm | Charter market extra days | St Peter’s Street | Free |
| Sun 20 Dec, 10am to 2pm | Christmas Farmers’ Market | Harpenden High Street | Free |
Saturday 7 November: the Cathedral Artisan Christmas Market
Pop Up Creative Events fills the Nave of St Albans Cathedral with more than 70 local artisan stalls from 11am to 3pm on Saturday 7 November. The organiser says local school choirs will sing at the altar, and there will be a face painter for children and food from the cathedral’s Abbots Kitchen Café. A three-day art fair opens the same day in the North Transept. Last year’s market drew “over 1,500 visitors”, the organiser says.
Entry is free, but the organiser asks for a ticket, one per person, through its Eventbrite page so it knows how many people to expect (Enjoy St Albans listing).
The same evening, Verulamium Park below the cathedral hosts the St Albans Fireworks Spectacular, gates 6pm, so the market and the fireworks make one day out. The park’s car parks will be busy from late afternoon. Ticket prices and times are on our fireworks page.
Sunday 22 November: the Christmas Cracker
The council’s Christmas Cracker is the city’s Christmas market and its biggest street event of the year. From noon to 6pm, about 100 market stalls selling “gifts, decorations, food and drink” run along St Peter’s Street and the closed streets around it. There is also a main stage, school choirs by the Christmas tree outside the Museum + Gallery, a free Santa’s grotto sponsored by St Albans BID, and fairground rides. Entry is free.
Roads close from 6am to 9pm, so drive in early or use the park and walk options on our parking in St Albans page. The full stage running order, the closed streets and where the grotto is are on our Christmas Cracker page (council listing, updated 30 September).
Harpenden holds its own Christmas Carnival on the same afternoon, noon to 6pm, with its Farmers’ Market on the High Street from 10am. The details are on our Harpenden Christmas Carnival page.
Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November: Knebworth Christmas Fair
Knebworth’s fair calls itself Hertfordshire’s largest festive shopping event. The fair returns to Knebworth House from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November, 9.30am to 4pm each day, with “almost 300” stallholders in the house’s barns, large shopping marquees, outdoor stands and Christmas cabins (Knebworth House).
Adult tickets start at £8 and parking is free. The fair sells tickets for set arrival times, and its site says the popular slots are “already starting to fill up”. The visitor entrance postcode is SG1 2AX (Knebworth Christmas Fair).
Sunday 29 November: Redbourn Christmas Market
Redbourn’s market is run by volunteers: more than 100 stalls of food, crafts and gifts, festive music from local performers and a raffle, from 11am to 5pm on Sunday 29 November (Redbourn Christmas Market). Its profits pay for the village’s Christmas lights in Cumberland Gardens.
The market fills the High Street, Cumberland Gardens and the Village Hall car park. On parking, the organisers say many village streets have no Sunday restrictions, ask visitors not to park on Harpenden Lane, and point drivers to the Redbourn MOT centre car park. That car park is free (donations welcome) and closes at 6pm, with a free tuk-tuk to the market. Disabled parking is in Hawkes Drive (map and parking).
Redbourn Parish Council’s own Christmas market page is out of date (it was last updated in 2022), so use the market’s own site.
Saturday 5 December: Creative Christmas Market at the Museum + Gallery
Shop Small Pop Up takes the Assembly Room at St Albans Museum + Gallery in the old Town Hall on Saturday 5 December, 10am to 4pm. Expect more than 20 small creative businesses selling jewellery, candles, ceramics, artwork, local puzzles and cakes. Entry is free. The museum’s page says this is the market’s fourth Christmas there (St Albans Museums; Shop Small Pop Up). Saturday is also a regular charter market day outside, so St Peter’s Street will be busy.
Sunday 6 December: Antique and Vintage Market
The monthly antique and vintage market on St Peter’s Street and Market Place has its December market on Sunday 6 December, 9am to 3pm. There is no November market this year. It is an outdoor market, so the organiser asks visitors to check its site if the weather looks doubtful (St Albans Antique and Vintage Market dates).
The charter market’s extra December days
St Albans’ charter market runs every Wednesday and Saturday, 9am to 4.30pm, all year. In December the council adds extra days, each 9am to 3pm (St Albans Market Additional December Dates):
- Thursday 10 December and Friday 11 December
- Tuesday 15 December
- Thursday 17 December and Friday 18 December
- Sunday 20 December
- “Tuesday 21st December” on the council’s list. 21 December 2026 is a Monday, so check with the market team before you go
- Thursday 24 December, Christmas Eve
The market is closed on Saturday 26 December, Boxing Day, though Saturday is normally a market day. The council is clear that this is a market and not a Christmas market (“We are not a Christmas market but it is December after all”), so festive traders are given priority and the usual rules on what each stall can sell are relaxed on the extra days.
Harpenden: two more markets
- Sustainability Market, Sunday 15 November, 10am to 3pm, Harpenden Common. Run by Sustainable St Albans with the town council. November’s market “takes a festive theme” with greener gifts, vegan food and sustainable textiles (Harpenden Town Council)
- Christmas Farmers’ Market, Sunday 20 December, 10am to 2pm, High Street. The town council promises produce, gifts, street food and drinks “with some added sparkle”, and more detail nearer the time (Harpenden Town Council)
Parking and getting there
On Cracker day the city centre is closed, so our Christmas Cracker page sets out which car parks still work. For every other market date, our parking in St Albans page has each council car park with its tariff. The A414 and other closures that could slow a trip to Knebworth or Redbourn are on our St Albans roadworks page, and Christmas train times are on our Christmas travel page.
What is still to be confirmed
- School choirs timetable and bus diversions for the Christmas Cracker: the council says they are “to follow”.
- The correct date for the market’s Monday or Tuesday 21/22 December extra day: the council’s list says “Tuesday 21st”.
- Stallholder lists for the Cathedral, Museum + Gallery and Redbourn markets, which the organisers post on social media nearer the time.
- A Christmas market at St Michael’s Manor on 26 November appears in listings sites but not on the hotel’s own events page on 6 October, so it is not included here. We will add it if the hotel publishes it.
This page will be updated as each organiser adds detail. If you run a Christmas market in St Albans, Harpenden or the villages, email hello@stalbansdaily.co.uk with the date, times and a link.
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