What’s on this Christmas in Somerset?
One minute you’re clinging on to the last throes of summer, the next, the hours of daylight are shrinking and Christmas is right around the corner! If you’re keen to maximise the festive feels this year, planning ahead early for family visits to Santa and Christmas Lights Trails is essential to avoid disappointment. Venues get booked up really quickly, so I’ve put together a hand-picked selection of enchanting Christmas lights trails, Christmas markets, Father Christmas meet-and-greets and the best of what’s on in Somerset this Christmas, so you can be prepared for when December comes around.
Use the table of contents to skip ahead, or browse through the post for inspiration. There’s so much on, you’re bound to find something you fancy near you. Be sure to check back regularly as I’ll continue to update the post with this to do in Somerset this Christmas, do let me know if you’d like your event added to the list.
This post contains affiliate links, should you click to purchase, it is at no additional cost to you, although I receive a small commission which goes towards the upkeep of this blog.
Ice rinks and winter skating in Somerset
Clarks Village ice rink
2024 dates: 14 November-5 January
Get your skates on! Returning for a second year is Clarks Village outdoor, under-cover ice rink, featuring real ice. Look out for quiet sessions as well as parent and toddler sessions for wobbly starters. Penguin and seal skating aids will be available for little ones, as well as bob skates to help guests stay steady.
When you show your ice skating tickets (and/or receipt), you’ll get access to some exclusive brand discounts at Clarks outlet shopping.
More info
Icescape Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare
2024 dates: TBC
The UK’S largest undercover winter ice rink returns to the Tropicana! The rink features real ice and each skating session is 45 minutes long and the ice rink is (manual) wheelchair accessible. Enjoy the thrill of the rides (including a Christmas rollercoaster and bungee trampolines), indulge in festive treats, and meet beloved mascot, Pippen the Penguin.
Somerset Christmas events 2024
Christmas lights trails in Somerset
Make the most of the nights drawing in with the most joyful of winter events – twinkly Christmas lights trails! A number of attractions in Somerset will be bringing a little bit of festive magic into our lives over the Yuletide season with their outdoor Christmas events – expect neon illuminations, dazzling foliage and glittering light displays! Here’s my round-up of Somerset’s best Christmas lights 2024.
Family Holiday Activities: Christmas Crafts
- When? 18-20 December 2024, 10am/11.15 am/2pm
Follow the Christmas trail around the cathedral, then create seasonal crafts to take home. Morning and afternoon sessions, with the trail available throughout Advent. Admission: £1.10–£2.15.
Crib Services, Wells Cathedral
- When? 23 December 2024, 2 pm/3.15 pm
Perfect for children and families. Children are invited to dress up for this fun service — come dressed as a shepherd, an angel, a wise man, or even a super hero!
For a full list of Advent and Christmas events at Wells Cathedral, click here.
Taunton’s WinterFest
10am-8pm, 24 November 2024
Taunton’s WinterFest is a jam-packed day of festive fun with live music acts and performances, funfair rides, a Christmas market, charming Yuletide characters and the big Christmas light switch-on happening at 6pm. Santa will be enjoying the festivities too!
Reindeer World Tour at Montacute House
From 23 November 2024-1 January 2025 (excluding Christmas Eve and Christmas Day).
Montacute House welcomes Father Christmas’s reindeer back to the garden and they need your help. Four sacks of presents have slipped off the sleigh, so Father Christmas has sent the reindeer out to find them. Can you discover where in the world the sacks have landed?
Afterwards, have a peek inside the house – the ground floor will look beautifully festive with its 15-foot Christmas tree decorating the Great Hall.
More info about festive Montacute
Christmas at Tyntesfield
2024 Family Reindeer making dates: 15, 21, 22 December 2024
Construct a festive wooden reindeer from parts provided by the Somerset Bodgers. Each day has three two-hour sessions – 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2pm. Book early to avoid disappointment.
Christmas is particularly festive at Tyntesfield. Soak up a Victorian Christmas atmosphere inside the mansion house as the Gibbs family and servants set about their festive preparations.
Look out for a roaming Father Christmas, Christmas horse and carriage rides (£4 per person per ride, book on the day at front of the house), local choirs crooning Christmas classics in the chapel, a festive audio trail, plus seasonal Sunday markets for a spot of festive shopping.
12 days of Twixmas trails, Dunster Castle
2024 dates: 26 December-5 January 2025
Dog walking, playing games and wearing ill fitting jumpers. Find out what the Dunster household were doing between Christmas and New Year and join in with some of the activities.
Mendip Activity Centre Twilight Tobogganing
2024 dates: 8 November-5 January
Mendip Activity Centre are running their popular Twilight Toboggan sessions this winter. Pop on your free santa hat and shimmy to festive music in between swooshing down slopes dusted with snow (from a machine) and glittering fairy lights.
Afterwards, head off along an illuminated path to a canopied woodland clearing for marshmallows, hot chocolate, s’mores and sparklers around the campfire.
Coates English Willow Christmas Sculpture Trail
2024 dates: TBC
Coates English Willow has been weaving festive Christmas sculptures for you to find. Choose a wordsearch or picture quiz with a prize at the end.
Supper with Santa at Puxton Park 2024
2024 dates: 6-7, 13-14, 20-21, 22-23 December 2024, 6-8pm
Enjoy a magical feast and dance the night away at a disco with Santa with a gift for all children, plus access to the soft play barn.
£20 per child (includes buffet, ice-cream, soft-play, disco, and a present from Santa). £15 per adult (includes buffet)
Join us for a night of food, fun, and festive cheer, where magical memories will be made!
Christmas Concert under Concorde, Fleet Air Arm Museum
2024 dates: 7pm, 12-13 December
Visitors can join the HMS Heron Royal Navy Volunteer Band for Carols under Concorde 002 in Hall Four of the Yeovilton Fleet Air Arm museum. The concert features several classics and festive numbers for the occasion. Tickets include a mince pie and mulled wine on arrival, and Tea/Coffee during the interval.
Vee Dub Christmas Cruz, Weston-super-Mare
2024 dates: TBC
See over VW vans, all lit up for Christmas, raising money for The Grand Appeal – the official charity for Bristol Children’s Hospital. The procession starts at the Queensway Retail Park around 5.15pm, and heads out around Worle, along the Boulevard and up to the seafront, down past the pier and on to Marine Parade.
Somerset Rural Life Museum
Visit Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury this December to:
- Print your own Christmas cards (30 November 2024)
- Make a biodegradable Christmas wreath (7 December 2024)
Somerset Brick and Tile Museum, Bridgwater
- Make clay and glass icy ponds for penguins (30 November)
- Enjoy Christmas crafts including painting Christmas decorations and designing a plate for Santa. £4 per child. 2024 dates: 19,23, 24 December
Avon Valley Christmas experience
2024 Dates: 30 November, 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 December.
The Grinch would have a tough time stealing all the festive joy from Avon Valley. With ice skating, a festive fun fair, theatrical Santa Show and an array of yuletide activities, the adventure and wildlife park is hosting one of the biggest Christmas experiences in Somerset.
In addition to the indoor play barn, Dinosaur Valley, mini jeep dino safari, jump pillows, Chair-O-Planes and farm animals, delve into the holiday magic with reindeer food-making (alongside their resident reindeer), receive gingerbread-cooking tips from Mrs Claus, hop on the ‘elf express’ miniature train ride, post a letter to Santa, watch Rudolph preparing for Christmas Eve and if you dare, knock on the Grinch’s door and see if you can make his heart grow!
Visitors can purchase additional Christmas Nights Light Trail tickets which whisks visitors around the park, past lit-up animatronic dinosaurs and includes a festive fun fair, and Christmas disco.
Tickets for the 300m Avon Valley ice skating rink can also be purchased separately. Warm up afterwards at the Apres-skate bar.
Somerset Christmas lights switch-on 2024
Yeovil Christmas lights switch-on, King George Street
4-7pm, 16 November 2024
Join together to switch on the town centre Christmas lights and illuminate the Christmas tree in the Quedam. With acts starting from 4.30pm there will be live music and dance from local and professional groups, family-friendly creative activities in Yeovil Art Space, seasonal delights at EPS Yeovil and a craft market.
Christmas lights switch-on and lantern parade, Frome
When? 22 November 2024
Ignite your Christmas spirit at Frome’s Christmas Light the Night lights switch-on. The lantern procession parades through the town centre, carols, festive food stalls and Father Christmas in his grotto. Be sure to check Frome Lanterns website for workshop details and more information closer to the night.
South Petherton Christmas lights switch-on
1.30-4.30pm, 24 November 2024
An afternoon of Christmas fun with music from Stoke-sub-Hamdon Brass Band in the village square, crafts and games in Blake Hall, decoration-making in St Peter and St Paul church, a craft fair at The Brewers Arms and businesses open late. Lights are switched on at 4.30pm.
Bruton’s Christmas Evening, High Street
5.30-8pm, 5 December 2024
Enjoy early Christmas magic in Bruton High Street – see the Christmas Tree switched on at Crown Green at 5.30pm, browse food, drink and craft stalls and watch Father Christmas and his Elves arrive, abseiling down from the top of the Chapel! Santa will then take up temporary residence in his Grotto.
Weston-super-Mare Christmas Lights switch-on
When? 23 November 2024
The eat:Weston Christmas food festival will take in the Italian Gardens on the same day as the festive lights switch-on, which has a brand new design for 2024.
Christmas Theatre in Somerset
Wells Theatre Company: A Christmas Carol
- When? 9 & 16 December 2024, 1pm & 3pm
An illuminated costumed reading of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol with live music, performed by Wells Theatre Company in the medieval Vicars’ Hall, Undercroft, and Chapter House. Admission: FREE in aid of Wells Cathedral; register in advance. Get tickets here.
Tacchi Morris Arts Centre, Taunton
- Cinderella pantomime: 6-22 December 2024
Taunton Brewhouse
- Pinocchio: 4-29 December 2024
- Royal Ballet and Opera Cinderella: 10 December 2024
The Front Room
- A Winter’s Tale: 1 December 2024
- Santa & Sven: 3 December 2024
The Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare
- Beauty & The Beast: 7-31 December 2024
Where to see Santa in Somerset
Visit Father Christmas, Taunton Brewhouse
2024 dates: 4-23 December
Father Christmas is setting up a residency at Taunton Brewhouse for the second year in a row! Make your way through an enchanted forest inspired by the whimsical world of Pinocchio, all crafted from recycled materials.
Visitors can join a jolly forest elf to create a tree decoration and hear the latest news from the North Pole, followed by a meeting with Father Christmas as he prepares for the big day in his Somerset workshop. Before you leave, you’ll receive a make-at-home gift to cherish and enjoy with your family.
Christmas Wonderland, Little Town Adventures
This year, Little Town will be transformed into a Christmas Wonderland, featuring a beautifully decorated festive town and an enchanting grotto. Visitors can expect:
- A Personalised Letter from Santa: The magic starts before your visit with a custom letter from the North Pole.
- An immersive storytime adventure with Santa and his elves, filled with snow, songs and dancing.
- Magical Christmas town with fun festive role-play, games, and surprises.
- A visit to Santa’s magical grotto and a special gift to treasure.
- Snowy Finale
Christmas on the farm with Santa, Palette & Pasture
2024 dates: 7-8, 14-15, 20-22 December
Meet Santa in his grotto, pick a special gift from the Toy Shop, and snap a festive photo on a real Nordic sleigh at Palette & Pasture. Stroll around the farm, where animals await, including cows, ponies, and more.
Kids can make reindeer food and plant a magical candy cane. Enjoy spotting mischievous elves, dance with singing reindeer, and find the giant snowman, but beware the smelly Christmas pudding! Complete your activity sheet for a chance to win a gelato prize. All activities and an elf hat are included with your ticket.
- Adult Ticket £6
- Child Ticket (2 years and older) £19.50
- Child Ticket (under 2 years) £10.50
- Dog Ticket £6
Santa’s grotto at Museum of Somerset
TBC
On arrival, Santa’s elves will guide you to the magical grotto to meet with Santa, and each kiddo will receive a special gift. After seeing Santa, pop over to the museum for more Christmassy fun following the Reindeer Trail (£1). The café will be open serving hot drinks and seasonal treats.
Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury
TBC
Friendly elves will guide you to Santa, who will be waiting in the Farmhouse Kitchen. After a chat, and a gift from the man in red, you can explore the museum and have a go at the special Christmas Trail. The Grain Store Café will be open serving festive treats. At the end of your visit, make a Christmas decoration to take home with you!
Weston Grotto, We are Super Studios, The Sovereign, Weston-super-Mare
2024 dates: TBC
✨ Explore the Elf Workshop
✨ Unleash your creativity with cool Christmas crafts
✨ Dive into the holiday spirit with Christmas games
✨ Enjoy playtime with toys, building blocks, teddies, snow, and snowball fights
✨ Don’t miss a visit to Santa in his charming grotto for Christmas stories and a special gift.
Tickets £12.
Thursdays are extra special with Supper with Santa:
🎉 Party it up with the elves, Santa, and Action Pussycat at an interactive disco.
🎮 Engage in fun Christmas games and frolic in the snow.
🍔 Feast on a meal from Burger King.
Tickets: £15
Father and Mother Christmas at Bishops Palace, Wells
2024 dates: TBC
Make your way through the decorated rooms of The Bishop’s Palace to find Mother and Father Christmas’ grotto. Each family will have exclusive time with Father and Mother Christmas and receive a special Christmas gift.
Father Christmas at Wookey Hole Winter Wonderland
2024 dates: 23 November-24 December
Wookey Hole decorate their famous caves with thousands of fairy lights for their festive season, turning it into a magical twinkling grotto. Guided tours take you through the spectacular caverns and then you’re free to explore above ground, where you’ll find a giant gorilla, fairy garden, animatronic dinosaurs, festive 4D cinema, circus shows, soft play, Victorian-style arcade and as part of the Christmas festivities, a chance to meet Santa and his elves.
When you book to see Santa you’ll be given the option to add on a return visit (with 50% off) to Wookey Hole to enjoy their Twixmas experience featuring Paddington TM! The beloved bear will be making guest appearances after the twice daily Panto shows between the 27 December 2024 and 5 January 2025.
Book to see Santa at Wookey Hole Winter Wonderland
Christmas fun day at The Helicopter Museum
2024 dates: 8 December
Got a young vehicle enthusiast in the family? Delight their little minds with a visit to Santa’s helicopter grotto at Weston-super-Mare’s Helicopter Museum on Sunday, December 8. Children will have the unique opportunity to meet Santa and his elf pilots, receive a special gift, and climb aboard several aircraft from the museum’s collection.
The festive activities extend beyond the grotto with charity stalls, face painting, and a seasonal fayre. It’s a perfect day out for any aviation lover, mixing festive fun with hands-on exploration of some incredible flying machines.
Father Christmas at Cheddar Gorge and Caves
Selected dates from 16 November 2024
Did you know that it’s not just cheese stored in Gough’s Cave, but lots of toys too! Father Christmas will be stopping off to ensure his operations are up to scratch and has decided that while the final tweaks are made, he will invite you behind the scenes to marvel at the magic that is Christmas at Cheddar. You’ll see elves checking destinations, busy sorting letters and making toys.
Visit Father Christmas at Sheppy’s House of Cider
2024 dates: 30 November – 1 December, (10am-4pm – weekends, 3-6pm weekdays)
Father Christmas is getting into the Somerset spirit and greeting families in his Sheppy’s Oak Vat grotto! Children will receive a gift and activity pack and afterwards, can visit the donkeys in the Old Barn, take a winter stroll around the orchards or pop by the Christmas Craft Fair (2-3 December).
More info on Sheppy’s Santa Grotto
Cadbury Garden Centre Santa Grotto
Santa’s coming to Cadbury Garden Centre, The Elves are eagerly awaiting your arrival and busy making a gift for you to collect on the way out. Meet Santa in his grotto, go for Christmas afternoon tea or try the breakfast with Santa experience!
Book tickets to the Santa experience here
Weston Pier Santa Grotto 2024, Weston-super-Mare
2024 dates: 23-24, 30 November, 1, 7-8, 14-15, 21-24 December
Meet the jolly man himself a quarter of a mile out to sea (depending on tide times of course) and receive a special Christmas gift.
For a Santa visit with a different festive flavour for your little mischief maker, head over on the weekend of 14-15 December 2024 when Mr Grinch is doing a takeover! This green grump will be posing as the magical man himself in an attempt to steal your Christmas spirit!
Elf School and Christmas grotto at Space Adventurers, Taunton
Selected dates throughout December 2024 at 9.15am, 11.45am and 2.15pm.
Enjoy a magical 2.25 hour experience hosted by one of Santa’s elves, teaching kids the secrets of being a good elf through craft and play!
Create your own reindeer food, make your own themed hot chocolate and a Christmas decoration to take home. Santa Claus will give each child a personalised meet and greet (thanks to a special form), there’ll be an elf hat workshop, elf hunt round the soft play, Christmas tree origami plus access to a festive-decorated soft play.
Sister soft play, Ocean Adventurers, will also be hosting a similar Magical Mystical Christmas experience in Cheddar.
Book here to see Santa at Ocean Adventurers this year
For both venues, S.E.N.D. tickets are available with reduced capacity, no music and lowered lighting.
Santa’s grotto and Grinchmas Party, Chicagos, Yeovil
2024 dates: TBC
Pop along to meet Santa. Tickets (£10 per child) include unlimited soft drinks, and there will be breakfast baps available for adults. Or meet Santa and his elf in a Christmas grotto, from 3pm-6pm. Cost will be £10 per child and include a gift.
For fans of The Grinch, there’ll also be a festive Grinchmas party. Tickets include a meal, drink and a gift.
Tea with Santa, Yeovil Railway Centre
2024 dates: 7 December, 10am-12pm, 3-5pm
Kids can meet Santa (and receive a present), join in with games, music and tuck into a kids’ buffet. Adults £5 each, children £10 each. NB There is no train ride with this event.
Santa Special Sunday, Yeovil Railway Centre
2024 dates: 1, 8, 14, 15, 22, 23 December
Travel in a decorated heritage carriage on a steam locomotive (about 1/3rd mile long), before making your way to the ex GWR Transfer Shed, to meet Santa and receive a gift.
To add to the festive spirit there’s also award-winning Christmas displays to marvel at and the chance to dance and play in falling snow. Adult tickets include a mince pie and hot drink.
Christmas Santa trains in Somerset
Santa Express West Somerset Railway
2024 dates: 1, 7-8, 14-15, 21-24 December
Step aboard the Santa Express and take an unforgettable journey through West Somerset’s winter woodlands on a round trip from Bishop’s Lydeard to Williton. Inside festively-decorated heritage carriages, Santa’s presents (made from 100% recycled materials) and refreshments will be waiting at your table and he’ll be along for the ride to make sure you’ve found them!
West Somerset Railway info and Santa Express ticket availability
Panto Train, West Somerset Railway
2024 dates: 14-15, 21-23, 27-29, 31 December, 1 January 2025).
This year you can also combine theatrical seasonal frivolity with a ride on the old-fashioned railway, thanks to the introduction of the Panto Train.
If you love a ‘he’s behind you’ silliness, watch beloved characters bring a pantomime to life onboard the train, which promises plenty of audience participation, including a sing-a-long. For added Christmas cosiness, be sure to purchase a hot chocolate and cookie (£5) to sip while you watch the fun unfold.
Magical Christmas Experience, Somerset Reindeer Ranch, Yeovil
2024 dates: 30 November, 1, 7-8, 14-15, 21-23 December
Head off on a magical, elf-led guided tour to see real-life reindeer and have story time with Santa. This one-hour experience involves a (Narnia-esque) journey through a magical wardrobe, luxury hot chocolate, reindeer feeding (£2 per portion) and a gift for youngsters under 16.
Click here to buy tickets and check availability
Christmas markets and shopping in Somerset
Old Rowlands All Year Christmas Shop, Cheddar Gorge
“Oh I wish it could be Christmas every daaayy”… Well, it is at Old Rowlands! Immerse yourself in the festive surroundings and pick up Christmas decorations of all shapes and sizes.
Christmas Markets
During the festive period, there are lots of Christmas markets in Somerset to potter around, from famous, long-standing annual events, o smaller village hall affairs. All promise unique, local, handmade crafts, festive treats and oodles of Yuletide cheer. I’ve put together a list of Christmas markets in Somerset taking place this festive season in order of when they’ll be happening.
Farm shops in Somerset
There’s something so lovely about pondering with an expert over a cheese or hunk of meat for a special occasion. At Christmas, Somerset’s glorious farm shops are brimming with festive goodies, tasty gifts, stocking fillers and scrummy delights for your Christmas feasting. Here are 18 of the best farm shops you’ll find in the county.
Carol concerts in Somerset
Carols by Candlelight Concerts, Wells Cathedral
2024 dates: 19, 20, 21 December
Share in this treasured tradition for an unforgettable celebration of Christmas within the awe-inspiring walls of Wells Cathedral.
Carols around the bandstand, Vivary Park Taunton
2024 dates: 9 December
Taunton Deane Male Voice Choir and The New Horizon Singers will be belting out some festive numbers accompanied by Taunton Concert Band. Bring a torch or even better, a lantern!
1 Comment