Christmas around Windermere has changed shape this year, and a few of the websites people check first have not caught up. The town’s Christmas market is not running in 2026, the lake-shore lights have a new team of volunteers after a cancelled year, and a brand-new festival opens at Low Wood Bay in November. This guide puts the confirmed dates in order, marks what to book, and names the two or three things that are still to be decided.
The short version is that the Windermere town Christmas market is not running in 2026. Some listing sites still show it, so read from a 2026 source before planning a day around one. The regular Bowness Glebe Market carries on every Sunday from 10am to 4pm at The Glebe, and it grows into a Christmas market on the first December weekend — the section below has those dates.
The other change is the lights. They were cancelled over safety issues, and the volunteer team behind the old Christmas parade stood down in April 2026. A new group has taken them on, and it is the reason this year’s display will look a little different from anything a returning visitor remembers. The practical effect is that a December visit now hangs on a different set of anchors — the cruises, the craft fair and the market on the Glebe — and the rest of this guide lists them in the order they happen.
The 2026 lights are the work of Windermere and Bowness Winter Lights, a new community group led by Marta Pawlik, co-director of the holiday-let company Laik, Megan Morgan, a local primary school teacher, and Mashail Aljafari. They are planning displays at the Library Tree, Bowness Promenade and St Martin’s Square, the spots people remember from earlier years. The switch-on date is still to be confirmed — the group asks people to follow its Facebook page, Windermere and Bowness Winter Lights, rather than trust a date seen elsewhere.
Behind the lights sits a crowdfunding campaign, organised by Mashail Aljafari, which hit its initial target within 24 hours and is now aiming for £5,000, with about £4,525 raised. The money goes to maintenance, repairs, bulbs, equipment and adding more lights. The town council runs its own display alongside: trees at the library gardens, St Martin’s churchyard and the Bowness promenade, lit after Remembrance Day — never before, as a mark of respect — and kept on from mid-November into the New Year. The council also runs the Best Dressed Christmas Window competition through the season, which rewards the shop fronts rather than the trees.
Saturday 21 November 2026 is the Ambleside Christmas Lights Switch-On, and it is built around two Father Christmas cruises that leave from Waterhead Pier. The morning sailing boards at 10:30 and departs at 11:00; the afternoon one boards at 13:30 and departs at 14:00, and Father Christmas switches on the lights after it returns. Tickets have been on sale since 1 October 2026, so book before travelling rather than expecting space on the day.
One detail worth knowing: the switch-on is not organised by Windermere Lake Cruises, even though the boats are theirs — the cruises are the centrepiece of a separate community event, so questions about the lights themselves should go to the Ambleside organisers rather than the pier office. The cruises guide and the Ambleside article cover the routes and the run up to Waterhead.
Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa hosts the UK’s first national Gingerbread House Festival from Friday 20 to Sunday 22 November 2026, a collaboration between the hotel and Grasmere Gingerbread that raises money for the charity Shelter. Friday runs 16:00 to 21:00 with a launch and the lights switched on at 7:30pm; Saturday runs noon to 20:00 for the judging; Sunday runs 10:00 to 17:00 for the exhibition.
The festival is the newest entry on this list and the least settled. The three-day shape above is confirmed, but visitor admission was still to be confirmed at the time of writing, so check the hotel’s own page nearer the date rather than a third-party listing. That is the one event here where the details genuinely could move.
Blackwell, the Grade I listed Arts & Crafts house on the edge of Bowness, holds its Winter Craft Fair — run by Lakeland Arts — over two consecutive weekends, 13–15 and 20–22 November 2026, with different makers in each. The setting is part of the draw: the house was built in 1901 by the architect Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott, and 2026 marks 125 years of the building and 25 years since it opened to the public. Entry is free for Lakeland Arts Members and Blackwell Annual Pass holders, and the fair sits under Blackwell’s own roof, so a wet day costs nothing extra for members. The house is at Bowness-on-Windermere LA23 3JT, and the phone is 01539 637940.
The Glebe in Bowness-on-Windermere runs a market every Sunday from 10am to 4pm, and on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December 2026 it becomes a Christmas market, with live music, carol singing, street entertainment and a visit from Father Christmas. The organiser is Glebe Markets Bowness-on-Windermere, which has no website; its Facebook page, Glebe Markets Bowness On Windermere, is the place to check before travelling. The weekly Sunday market means a December visit works even on the other weekends, but the two-day Christmas market is the one with the carols and the queue. The parking guide covers the Bowness car parks worth knowing about before you commit to a time.
At the south end of the lake, the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway runs Tinsel Trains on 5–6, 12–13 and 19–20 December 2026, with departures at 10:00, 11:30, 13:00 and 14:30. A compartment costs £125 for up to four people, holds a maximum of eight, and extra passengers are £30 each. One wheelchair-accessible compartment is available on each departure, and booking is by phone on 015395 31594. The terms are strict — no refunds or transfers — so book only once your dates are firm, and note the compartment price before assuming it splits neatly between a larger group.
Three places put Father Christmas in the calendar. The Santa cruises on 21 November are the earliest, leaving from Waterhead Pier in Ambleside; the Glebe Christmas Market has him on 5–6 December in Bowness; and the Tinsel Trains carry him through the three December weekends. The cruises and the trains sell out, so book ahead. The market appearance is a walk-in rather than a ticketed slot, which makes it the fallback if the other two are full, but expect to queue.
A December day in the Lakes is more often wet than dry, and the indoor backstops are the same as any other month: the Windermere Jetty Museum, the Lakes Aquarium and the World of Beatrix Potter, all covered in the rainy-days article. For festive days specifically, the Blackwell craft fair and the Gingerbread House Festival are both under cover, and the fair pairs well with a walk through Bowness to look at the lights once they are on.
In date order, the season runs Blackwell’s craft fair on 13–15 and 20–22 November, the Gingerbread House Festival on 20–22 November, the Ambleside switch-on on 21 November, the Glebe Christmas Market on 5–6 December, and the Tinsel Trains on 5–6, 12–13 and 19–20 December. The lights themselves are up from mid-November into the New Year, but the switch-on date is still to be confirmed, so follow the group’s Facebook page rather than trusting a date read elsewhere. Two things to book early: the Santa cruises, on sale since 1 October, and the Tinsel Trains, by phone and with no refunds. These dates come from the organisers’ own pages as of October 2026, and December plans shift — check the organiser’s page before you set out, particularly for the Gingerbread House Festival admission and the lights switch-on.