17+ sparkly Christmas events in Berkshire for families 2025

The festive season is nearly here, and Christmas in Berkshire 2025 is set to sparkle brighter than ever.  Families can look forward to magical Christmas light trails, traditional Santa’s grottos, festive ice skating rinks, Christmas markets, and National Trust Christmas events.

Here’s your guide to the best family Christmas events in Berkshire 2025.  Plus, we’ve included some unmissable festive activities beyond Berkshire to help you make the most of the season. Let the festive fun begin!

• Some tickets have previously been gifted but all opinions are our own.
• This post contains some affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but we may receive a small commission

📍 Windsor Great Park, Wick Lane, Englefield Green, TW20 0UU

• Dates:   14^th November 2025 – 3^rd January 2026 (4.30-10pm)
• Tickets:  Illuminated at Great Windsor Park
• Cost:       from £19.80

The Windsor Great Park Christmas light trail is one of our Christmas evenings out.  Families can wander through sparkling tunnels of light, enjoy breathtaking projections in the trees, and warm up with festive street food or hot chocolate.  It’s a truly enchanting way to celebrate Christmas in Windsor.

📍 Spectacle of Light, Welford Park, Welford, Newbury, RG20 8HU

• Dates:    17^th October – 9^th November 2025 (selected evenings)
• Tickets:  Spectacle of Light at Welford Park
• Cost:       From £17.60 (adult)

📍 Newbury Methodist Church, Northbrook Street, Newbury

• Dates:   Sunday 14^th December 2025
• Tickets:  n/a
• Cost:        free

Soak up the atmosphere and watch the hundreds of twinkling lanterns as the procession travels through Newbury town centre in our popular, annual Festival of Light.
The procession will travel along Northbrook Street before arriving in the Market Place with live music and a festive atmosphere.

The candle-lit procession starts at 4.30pm.

📍 Jubilee Square, Eton, near Windsor, Berkshire

• Dates:  13th November 2025
• Map:  available from Eton information centre
• Cost:  free

Celebrate Christmas in Eton with food stalls, funfair rides, music, dancing and all the fun of Christmas! Kicking off at Jubilee Square from 5pm.

The Chapel service starts at 6pm followed by a Christmas procession with Father Christmas and his reindeer.  Watch the Christmas lights switch-on in Jubilee Square at 7pm.

📍 Alexander Gardens, Windsor, Berkshire

• Dates:  tbc
• Tickets:  Windsor on Ice
• Cost:   £14.00 child and £16.00 adult (£47.50 for family ticket)

Just minutes from the royal castle, Windsor on Ice is surely one of the best venues for ice skating in Berkshire at Christmas? As well as skating, families can enjoy funfair rides, food stalls, and meet Father Christmas at the weekends.

📍 Winter Wonderland, Hills Meadow, Reading, RG4 8DH

• Dates:    8^th November 2025 – 4^th January 2026  (10am – 10 pm)
• Tickets:  Reading Winter Wonderland
• Cost:       Free entry and several ticket options available, (from £18.10 for an adult or £26.33 unlimited ride pass)

The ice rink is one of the highlights of the Reading Winter Wonderland.  Alongside the rink, you’ll discover a wide range of attractions, activities and entertainment for visitors of all ages including a Bavarian slide, an undercover ice skating rink, Santa’s grotto and a wide variety of festive food and drinks.

📍 Beale Park, Lower Basildon, RG8 9NW

• Dates:     December
• Tickets:  Beale Park
• Cost:        Admission plus price for each activity

Santa and his elves are making a visit to the zoo and taking the magic with them.  Families can look forward to meeting Santa for Jolly Tales and Tasty Treats, experience a reindeer feeding encounter or a fun elf stocking trail.

📍 Daniel Dept Store, 120-124 Peascod Street, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1DP

• Dates:     weekends in November and December
• Tickets:  Daniel Santa’s Grotto
• Cost:        £16 per child (includes small gift and photo)

Father Christmas is visiting Daniel’s again this year. So, come along and meet him in his cosy festive sitting room in the Christmas Department, have a quick chat and receive a small present.

📍 Forest, Swinley Road, Winkfield Row, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 8BD

• Dates: Nov/Dec 2025
• Tickets: Lapland UK
• Cost:  Unfortunately, Lapland has already sold out, but you can register for cancellations.

When it comes to meeting Santa in Berkshire, nothing beats Lapland UK in Ascot. This immersive Christmas experience includes toy-making with the elves, gingerbread decorating with Mother Christmas, ice skating, and a magical meeting with Father Christmas himself.  Tickets for Lapland UK always sell out quickly, so book early.

📍 4 Kingdoms Adventure Park, Newbury Road, Headley, Hampshire, RG19 8JY

• Dates:     selected dates from 22nd November 2025
• Tickets:  The Magical Christmas Adventure
• Cost:        £80 (child with accompanying adult)

The award-winning Christmas adventure offers a magical experience which lasts 2.5 hours.  This interactive experience will immerse you in fun at the North Play as you embark on this walking tour.  At Santa’s cabin, children will get to meet Santa and can choose a toy from his shop.

📍 Peach Place, Wokingham

• Dates:             Sunday 30^th November 2025 (11am – 5pm)
• Programme:  Wokingham Winter Carnival 
• Cost:               Free

The Wokingham Christmas Carnival is a large, community event in Wokingham with free entertainment, stalls and winter fun for all the family.  The whole town centre is closed to traffic, creating a safe and festive atmosphere.

📍 Legoland®, Winkfield Road, Windsor, SL4 4AY

• Dates:    22^nd November – 3^rd January 2026
• Tickets:  Legoland at Christmas
• Cost:     From £27.50 per child (+ additional ticket to see Santa)

Our festive event transforms the Park into a winter wonderland, complete with twinkling lights, snow dusted trees, and of course…a sprinkling of LEGO® magic!

Join us as we celebrate the most special time of the year with LEGOLAND® at Christmas.  We have over 25 Rides, LIVE shows and attractions for you to enjoy with the whole family!

📍 Hungerford Town Centre

• Dates:    13^th December 2025
• Cost:     Free

The Hungerford Victorian Extravaganza transforms the town into a Victorian-era wonderland, complete with fairy tale Christmas lights, steam engines, entertainers, charity stalls, food stalls, The Rock Choir, and Elsa, Anna and Olaf.

📍 Ascot Racecourse, High Street, Ascot, SL5 7JX

• Dates: 19 and 20^th December 2025
• Tickets:  Ascot Christmas Raceday
• Cost:  From £30 per adult (children are free)

As well as racing, there’s an abundance of seasonal fun with a range of festive entertainment. 

Off the track, there’s an abundance of seasonal fun for all with a range of festive entertainment set to delight racegoers of all ages. The traditional fairground rides and candle-lit carol singing with the Ascot Brass Band remain firmly part of the entertainment, and Father Christmas and his reindeer will be in attendance. 

📍 Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1NJ

• Dates:  20th December 2025
• Tickets:  Christmas at Windsor Castle
• Cost:      Included in your castle admission ticket

Drop by the Castle’s Learning Centre to hear all about a Victorian Christmas and make a memento to take home, such as a tree decoration, a wreath or an angel, just as Victorian children may have made. You can also devise your own Christmas menu for Queen Victoria and her family to enjoy on Christmas Day or dress up as an elegant Victorian stepping out on Christmas morning. 

📍 Basildon Park, Lower Basildon, Reading, Berkshire, RG8 9NR

• Dates:    From 16^th November 2024
• Tickets:  Christmas at Basildon House
• Cost:       free for National Trust members

Immerse yourself in a wonderland of beautifully adorned trees, garlands and twinkling fairy lights.  This year they will be celebrating 20 years of Basildon Park as a filming location and the opening of the exhibition “Visions Unreel”.

📍 Corn Exchange, Market Place, Newbury, RG14 5BD

• Dates:  8^th November – 3^rd December 2025
• Tickets:  Corn Exchange, Newbury
• Cost:   From £17.25 pp

Step into the magical forest of Newburyshire and join our swashbuckling hero Robin and his band of merry outlaws.  You can expect plenty of mischief, mayhem and merry-making for this year’s panto in Newbury.

📍 Theatre Royal Windsor, Thames Street, Berkshire, SL4 1PS

• Dates:   21^st November 2025 – 11^th January 2026
• Tickets:  Cinderella
• Cost:       From £19.00

Prepare to be whisked away to a world of magic, mischief, and make-believe as Theatre Royal Windsor proudly presents the spectacular pantomime, Cinderella!

📍 Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Altwood Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 4PF

• Dates:   16^th – 24^th December 2025
• Tickets:  A Winter’s Tail
• Cost:        From £12 pp

The snow is falling and the solstice is approaching. Ratty is getting ready. She wants everything to be really rat-tastic! But will her friends make it through the snow to the winter woodland revels?

Can you help them on their journey? There’ll be excitement, adventure, play-acting, games, music, a splattering of silliness and lots of snow!  A Winter’s Tail is a fun, relaxed play-along theatre adventure. Expect to play, move, watch and laugh.

📍 South Hill Park Arts Centre, Ringmead, Bracknell, RG12 7PA

• Dates:     Friday 28^th November – Saturday 4^th January 2026
• Tickets:  Mother Goose & the Golden Egg at South Hill Park
• Cost:       From £27.50 pp

The award-winning pantomime returns with Mother Goose and the Golden Egg – one of the original British pantos, first performed in London in 1806, now updated for the social media generation. Waddle you waiting for?

What are your favourite things to do in Berkshire at Christmas?  We’d love to hear your comments below.

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