Willows Activity Farm's Santa Spectacular runs November to December. Child tickets with a toy are £54.95 to £69.95, adults £29.95 to £39.95, booking only.

Willows Activity Farm at London Colney is running its Santa Spectacular again this Christmas. Tickets are on sale now on the farm’s own booking site, and they have to be booked in advance: Willows says its all-inclusive tickets are limited and that members and non-members alike “must book online prior to their visit”.

Everything below was checked against Willows Activity Farm’s own website and ticket pages on 3 October 2026.

The quick answer

  • Is it on this year? Yes. Willows lists “Santa Spectacular, Nov to Dec 2026” on its events page, and “Santa Spectacular 2026” tickets are on sale on its booking site (Willows Activity Farm, Santa Spectacular)
  • When does it start? Willows has not printed the first or last date. Its events page says only November to December, and the full programme is marked “coming soon”. The booking calendar shows the dates that are on sale
  • Child (90cm and over) £54.95 to £69.95, adult £29.95 to £39.95, plus a 75p booking fee per ticket. The child ticket includes a gift from Santa’s Toy Shop, Create-a-Cuddle and gingerbread decorating (Willows tickets)
  • Allow at least four hours, Willows says, and about an hour for the walk to the grotto and the queue

What the ticket includes

Willows’ own description of the day:

  • a walk through a winter wonderland to Santa in his grotto, where every child gets a key to Santa’s Toy Shop and chooses a gift “from the hundreds stacked from floor to ceiling”
  • Create-a-Cuddle, where children make, name and take home a soft toy
  • gingerbread decorating and reindeer food making
  • writing a letter to Santa (“don’t forget to add your address so he can reply”)
  • new festive shows, a festive woodland tractor ride, festive funfair rides and the reindeer in the farmyard
  • Peter Rabbit meet and greets, with his adventure playground open

The booking site also lists a reindeer hunt with a prize and the farm’s adventure play and animals.

Ticket prices

All prices are from Willows’ booking site on 3 October. Each one carries a 75p booking fee. The ranges reflect different prices on different dates; the booking calendar shows the price for each day.

  • Child, 90cm and over, with toy, Create-a-Cuddle and gingerbread: £54.95 to £69.95
  • Adult: £29.95 to £39.95. Adults must come with children
  • Child under 90cm with gifts: £32.95 to £34.95. Needed if a child under 90cm is to choose from the Toy Shop, make a cuddly toy and decorate gingerbread
  • Child under 90cm, visit to Santa without gifts: £9.95 to £13.95
  • Essential companion: free, with The Access Card or Nimbus Disability card shown on arrival
  • Members: child £29.00, adult £12.95, with a valid digital membership card shown at admission

Every child under 90cm needs a ticket. Willows reserves the right to measure children at the gate; one measured at 90cm or over pays the on-the-day child price.

How the grotto time works

This is the detail families most often get wrong. When you book, you pick a time to start the journey to Santa’s grotto, not a time to see Santa. Willows asks you to be at the signed starting point promptly at that time and to allow about 60 minutes for the journey and queue, which it says it cannot guarantee. Its FAQ is blunt: if you arrive late for the journey, “we cannot guarantee you will see Santa”.

You can arrive any time from opening and do the other activities before or after the grotto, in any order.

Storytime with Santa: four mornings in December

A cheaper, separate event. On 2, 7, 9 and 14 December, Santa reads a Christmas story in the farm’s Indoor Theatre, joined on stage by Ronnie the Reindeer. Entry to the theatre is from 11am, the story starts at 11.15am, and Willows asks you to be at the theatre by 11.10am. The ticket also covers the rest of the farm until 5.30pm.

  • Child 90cm and over: £18.95
  • Adult (16 and over): £15.95
  • Child under 90cm: free
  • each plus the 75p booking fee; members need a free pre-booked ticket

(Willows Activity Farm, Storytime with Santa; Storytime tickets)

Opening hours over Christmas

From Willows’ FAQ:

  • open daily 9.30am to 5.30pm, last entry 4.30pm
  • closes at 4pm on 24 and 31 December
  • closed 25, 26 and 27 December and 1 January

The site is cashless, so bring a card. Socks must be worn in the indoor play areas and arms and legs covered for the slides.

Getting there and parking

Willows Activity Farm is on Coursers Road, London Colney, AL4 0PF, the postcode the farm gives for satnavs; its directions start from junction 22 of the M25. Willows says there is “plenty of free parking right next to the farm”.

Check our roadworks and travel page before you set off: it tracks the road closures across the district, including the M1 and the A414. For parking in St Albans itself, see our parking page.

Before Christmas: low-bang fireworks on 6 and 7 November

Willows is also running Low Bang Fireworks on Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November, gates at 6pm and fireworks at 7.15pm, from £14.95 online. Details are on our St Albans fireworks page.

What is still to come

  • The first and last dates of the Santa Spectacular, and the full programme, which Willows marks “coming soon”. We will add them when they are published.

Other Christmas dates in the district are on our pages for the St Albans Christmas Cracker, the Harpenden Christmas Carnival, the Alban Arena pantomime and St Albans Cathedral at Christmas.

Sources