Newcastle Christmas Market 2026: Dates Announced

Sweeping sandstone terraces and classical facades make this one of the best-looking market settings in the country, and it comes into its own after dark when the lights go up between the buildings. The Newcastle Christmas Market fills the streets with chalets for five weeks, and most of the traders are North East businesses rather than the touring operators you see elsewhere.

Newcastle Christmas Market 2026

Dates

Status: Confirmed
Dates: 19th November to 23rd December 2026
Last checked: August 2026

Update: Dates were announced in August. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of changes.

Source: Verified by Ultimate Christmas Markets via the Newcastle Christmas.

Plan Your Visit

Location and Times

Location: Grey’s Monument, Grey Street, Grainger Street, Nelson Street, and Old Eldon Square (Family Festive Village).
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday: 10am to 8pm.
Sunday: 10am to 5pm.
Christmas Day: Closed.

Travel and Accommodation

Recommended tour: Grainger Town street food tour.
Public transport: Metro: Monument.
Parking: Please take public transport to help limit congestion. Eldon Square Multi-Storey is nearby.
Where to stay: The Maldron Hotel is near Grainger Street.

Amenities and Attractions

Admission: Free.
Lights: Bergen tree lights and switch-on. Normally at Grey Street. Date yet to be announced.
Santa’s Grotto: Grainger Street.
Ice skating: Life Science Centre. 8th November to 4th January 2027 (unconfirmed). Book online.
Enchanted City: Northumbria University Campus. 11th to 14th December (unconfimed). Book online.
New Year’s Eve: Newcastle Quayside. Book online.

Dietary Options

Vegetarian: Well covered. Mac and cheese, crepes, churros, brownies and the Greek stalls all have meat-free options without much hunting.
Vegan: Available but thinner on the ground than vegetarian, and concentrated in the sweet and drinks chalets rather than the hot food ones. Worth asking at each counter.
Gluten-free: Limited, and the market’s signature foods are the problem. Stotties, singin’ hinnies, crepes, churros and brownies are all wheat-based, and the grills are shared, so cross-contamination is likely. The Grainger Market nearby is the better bet.
Specialities: North East cooking is the backbone, with stotties, pease pudding and Geordie sausages, sitting alongside German, Caribbean, Greek and French street food.

Accessibility

Accessible: Yes.
Pet-friendly: Yes, but not recommended during busy periods.

Convenient Hotels

An ideal accommodation choice in the city centre is the eco-friendly Maldron Hotel near Grainger Street and less than 5 minutes from Grey’s Monument.

Read our guide to the Christmas markets in the UK.

Visitor Feedback

What Visitors Loved

• The setting after dark: lights strung above the streets and lit chalets drew the most consistent praise, and photos rarely do it justice.
• The food range: visitors singled out the international spread, with Sri Lankan, Caribbean, Greek and German traders alongside regional producers.
• Moosenwirt: the Alpine pop-up bar and the igloo pods above the market are the most repeated recommendation for somewhere warm to sit.
• The family village: parents rated the Old Eldon Square offering highly, particularly the Ferris wheel and Santa Stories, though ticketed activities sell out weeks ahead.

Common Complaints

• Too food heavy: visitors hoping for craft and gift chalets repeatedly said there were too few, and coach day-trippers in particular felt short-changed.
• Queues, not crowds: the streets themselves are walkable, but waits of 10 to 15 minutes at the popular food chalets were a recurring frustration.
• Pricing: most hot meals start around £10, and more than one visitor felt the portion and flavour did not justify it.
• Scale expectations: anyone arriving expecting a large traditional German-style market is often surprised by how quickly the whole route can be covered.

The Bottom Line

Treat Newcastle as an evening out for food and drink rather than a shopping trip and it delivers, particularly once the lights are on. Go on a weeknight, eat before 5pm when the queues build, and do your actual gift buying inside the Grainger Market, now linked to the market by the Nelson Street chalets.

Event Location

Captured a moment that embodies the holiday season? Tag your photos with #UltimateChristmas — we can’t wait to see your festive finds!

Christmas in Newcastle

Around 84 per cent of stalls are held by businesses based within 20 miles of the city centre, which is unusually high for a market this size and the main reason the food is worth eating. The market runs in zones: chalets along Grainger Street, Grey Street and around the Monument, an extension down Nelson Street connecting directly to the covered Grainger Market, and the Family Festive Village in Old Eldon Square.

Live music and choirs rotate through the week, and Moosenwirt, the Alpine bar run by local operators, has become the default meeting point. Full details on the stalls are provided below.

At the Food Stalls

• Stotties: the flat Geordie bread roll, filled with hot roast meats and best eaten with pease pudding.
• Singin’ Hinny: a Northumberland griddle cake named for the sizzle it makes on the hotplate.
• Geordie bangers: speciality sausages in flavours you will not find at the supermarket, cooked on open-air grills.
• Newcastle Brown Ale: turns up in the cooking as well as the glass, in pies, gravies and even desserts.
• Geordie Banger Co: North Shields producer selling sausages and burgers.
• Crow Events: German bratwurst and currywurst.
• Moosenwirt: the pop-up Alpine bar, and the busiest spot on the market most evenings.
• Acropolis Street Food: Greek gyros and souvlaki.
• Divine Caribbean Cuisine: jerk chicken wraps and Caribbean street food.
• Meat Stack: the well-loved Newcastle burger bar.
• Redheads Mac ‘n’ Cheese: comfort food with a cheesy twist.
• Petite Creperie: sweet and savoury crepes.
• Deli Churros: hot churros with chocolate dipping sauce.
• The Brownie Bar: chocolate brownies and blondies.
• Greens Hot Chocolate: hot chocolate flavours including Baileys and brandy.
• Black Storm Brewery: craft beer from the North East.
• Dipple Tripple & Co: spirits and handcrafted liqueurs.

Gifts and Stocking Fillers

The gift side is the weaker half of this market. If you are shopping seriously, the Nelson Street chalets now walk you straight into the Grainger Market, where the independent traders sit under one roof and out of the weather.

• Northumbrian cheese: regional cheeses sold loose or boxed for hampers.
• Newcastle Brown Ale: drinks and gift sets.
• Roasted coffee: beans from city roasters.
• The Eco Stall: plastic-free toiletries and home products, and a trader award winner last season.
• B Crafty: slate signs and box-painted glass.
• Baliwood Workshop: wooden and metal ornaments and gifts.
• From the Olive Tree: handmade carvings and homewares.
• Julian Scott: cushions, metal signs and homewares.
• Feel Pretty: dried flowers and nature-inspired accessories.
• No. 11 Home Interiors: home accessories and ornaments.
• Loose Thread: vintage clothing at Old Eldon Square.
• Little Crumbs: children’s toys and stocking fillers.

Sustainability

Newcastle does better than most UK markets on this front, and a few of the choices have already been made for you.

• The traders are local: 84 per cent of stalls are held by businesses based within 20 miles of the city centre, so the money you spend on a stottie or a slate sign mostly stays in the North East.
• No diesel generators: the market switched to mains power in 2024, cutting the carbon footprint of the entire festive programme and making the streets noticeably quieter.
• Waste-conscious traders: organisers ran a sustainability pilot recognising stallholders cutting down on packaging and waste. The Eco Stall is the obvious one to look for, selling plastic-free toiletries and refills.
• Arrive by Metro: Monument station comes up in the middle of the market and Central Station is a five minute walk, which is faster than finding a space in Eldon Square on a Saturday.
• Shop the Grainger Market too: the covered Victorian market is now linked to the chalets by Nelson Street, and its independent traders are open all year rather than for five weeks. The Quayside Market runs on Sundays.
• Go on a weeknight: spreading the footfall across the week is easier on the traders and the city centre, and you will queue for a fraction of the time.
• Bring a tote: useful if you are buying gifts, and saves collecting a pile of paper bags as you work down the street.