Ross-on-Wye's Christmas Fayre and lights switch-on is Sunday 29 November, 11am to 5pm, then a market on 5 December and Santa's torchlit parade on 19 December.

Ross-on-Wye’s Christmas Fayre and lights switch-on is on Sunday 29 November 2026, from 11am to 5pm, in the town centre around the Market House. It is free and not ticketed. Ross-on-Wye Town Council, which runs it, has also listed a Christmas market under the Market House on Saturday 5 December and the Christmas Carnival, with Santa’s torchlit parade, on Saturday 19 December from 4pm.

Is it on this year? Yes. All three are on the town council’s own events calendar for 2026. The council calls the Fayre “the annual Christmas Fayre and light switch-on event in the Town Centre”. What it has not published yet is the 2026 detail: the switch-on time, who presses the button, the trader list and the entertainment. Last year’s are below, and we will update this page when the council announces this year’s.

The Christmas Fayre and switch-on, Sunday 29 November

2026
Date Sunday 29 November
Time 11am to 5pm
Where Ross town centre, around the Market House, HR9 5BX
Cost Free, not ticketed
Switch-on time Not yet published. It was 4.30pm in 2025
Run by Ross-on-Wye Town Council

What last year’s looked like. The council’s announcement for the 2025 Fayre, on Sunday 30 November 2025, gave these details:

  • More than 80 traders along the streets, with gifts, crafts, seasonal produce and hot food, plus street entertainment and live music through the day
  • Station Street given over to street food stalls for the first time
  • Santa’s grotto at The Venue on Hill Street, run by and in aid of Age UK Wyvern
  • A free giant snow globe photo point in Crofts Court
  • The switch-on at 4.30pm, when that year’s chosen star lit up the Market House and the town Christmas tree. Ross Rotary helps fund the tree

Expect the same shape on 29 November. The switch-on time and the grotto are the two details most worth checking nearer the day.

The Christmas market, Saturday 5 December

The town council lists a Christmas Market on Saturday 5 December, 9am to 3pm, with traders “selling everything from baked goods and street food to handmade gifts” and live music or entertainment. It is the only Ross Christmas market date on the council’s calendar so far. Last year the council ran three, on 6, 13 and 20 December, so more Saturdays may be added.

The ordinary Ross market runs under and around the Market House every Thursday, 8am to 3pm, and Saturday, 8am to 2.30pm, according to the council’s market page.

The Christmas Carnival, Saturday 19 December

The council’s listing for the Ross on Wye Christmas Carnival says: “Watch a torch lit parade welcoming Santa to Ross before getting a chance to meet him yourself!” It runs from 4pm to 5.15pm at the Market House, it is not ticketed, and there is a free goody bag for every child under 13.

The 2026 running order is not out yet. In 2025 the council’s listing gave carols by St Mary’s Church Choir at 4pm, Ross Town Band at 4.30pm, and Santa’s torchlight parade arriving at the Market House at 5pm.

Other Christmas dates around Ross

These are also on the town council’s calendar:

  • Upton Bishop Christmas Fayre, Saturday 5 December, 10am to 12pm, Millennium Hall, Upton Bishop, HR9 7TU. £2. Stalls, games, teas, a tombola, a raffle and a visit from Father Christmas.
  • Christmas choral concert with the Oriel Singers, Sunday 6 December, 3pm, St Mary’s Parish Church, HR9 5HN. £20. Wye Valley Music with createROSS.

St Mary’s Christmas Tree Festival runs every two years and was last held in 2025, so it is not expected this year.

Parking and getting there

Council car parks in Ross are free all day on Sundays, so parking for the Fayre on 29 November costs nothing. Herefordshire Council’s tariff for The Maltings (HR9 7AA), the central car park, lists “Sunday: All day Free”. On Saturdays, for the market and the carnival, The Maltings charges £1.50 for up to an hour, £3 for two and £4.60 for three, with a three-hour maximum. The first 30 minutes are free in every council car park, but you still need a ticket from the machine. Ross has 826 council spaces in all, including the Corn Exchange, Crossfields, Red Meadow, Kyrle Street and Edde Cross Street car parks.

Wilton Road and Royal Parade are closed until 11 December for the rock face works below the cliff, so allow for the diversion if you come in from the Wilton side for the Fayre or the 5 December market. Our Wilton Road closure story has the detail, and the Hereford roadworks and travel page covers the rest of the county. For Hereford’s own car parks, see parking in Hereford.

Christmas in Hereford

Hereford’s own Christmas dates are on separate pages: the Hereford Christmas lights switch-on, the Hereford Christmas markets, and Cinderella at the Courtyard. Our What’s On in Hereford page has the next six weeks across the county.

Sources: Ross-on-Wye Town Council, events calendar entries for the Christmas Fayre, Christmas Market, Christmas Carnival, Upton Bishop Christmas Fayre and the Oriel Singers concert, plus its 2025 events and its announcement The Countdown to the Annual Ross Christmas Fayre Begins and market page; Herefordshire Council, Ross-on-Wye car parks and The Maltings car park. All checked 17 October 2026.