Clapham Old Town's winter market is one evening, Friday 27 November, 4pm to 9pm on The Polygon. Southbank Centre's runs to 3 January, shut 25 and 31 Dec, 1 Jan.

Clapham does not have a Christmas market that runs for weeks. What it has is one evening: the winter market on The Polygon at the Clapham Old Town lights switch-on, which is Friday 27 November 2026, 4pm to 9pm, free entry. For a proper run of stalls, the nearest is the Southbank Centre Winter Market on the Queen’s Walk, which is also in Lambeth and runs from Monday 2 November to Sunday 3 January, closed only on 25 and 31 December and 1 January. Brixton Village fills the gap in between with a month of weekend events from late November.

The quick answer

  • Clapham Old Town: one evening, Friday 27 November 2026, 4pm to 9pm, at the lights switch-on on The Polygon. Free entry, confirmed by the Omnibus Theatre.
  • Southbank Centre Winter Market: Monday 2 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, stalls 11am to 10pm, bars 11am to 11pm, closed 25 and 31 December and 1 January.
  • Clapham Makers Market: Sunday 22 November at the Omnibus Theatre, Clapham Common Northside.
  • Brixton Village: weekends from late November. Last year the programme ran from 29 November to 23 December.

Updated 9 November: the Southbank Centre now lists the market as closed on New Year’s Day, Friday 1 January, as well as 25 and 31 December.

Updated 2 November: the Old Town switch-on and its winter market are confirmed for Friday 27 November, 4pm to 9pm on The Polygon, free entry. The Southbank Centre market opens today as published.

Updated 26 October: the Clapham Makers Market has set its Christmas date, Sunday 22 November at the Omnibus Theatre. The Old Town switch-on date is still not announced.

Updated 12 October: the Southbank Centre’s own page now gives the last day as Sunday 3 January, not 4 January, and adds bar hours to 11pm.

Clapham Old Town: the switch-on market

The Old Town tree switch-on brings a one-evening winter market to The Polygon. The Omnibus Theatre’s listing, presented by the theatre and sponsored by the This is Clapham business improvement district, gives Friday 27 November 2026, 4pm to 9pm, free entry, with “a winter market full of artisanal seasonal treats from local establishments”, mulled wine, live jazz, rides and carol singing. In 2025 it was Friday 28 November, with the same hours. Our Clapham Christmas lights page has the children’s workshop, past dates and what the evening involves.

Clapham Makers Market at the Omnibus

The Clapham Makers Market says it “will be back at the Omnibus Theatre on 22nd November”, which is a Sunday. It sells jewellery, ceramics, prints, candles and cards, and says it is fully booked with makers, with a waiting list only. It has not yet published opening hours for the day. The market is held at the Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common Northside, SW4, in the old library building a short walk from Clapham Common station. Its last listed market was Sunday 17 May 2026 (This is Clapham).

Southbank Centre Winter Market

The biggest Christmas market in the borough is on the river at Waterloo. The Southbank Centre’s Winter Market page gives the 2026 run and the hours. The area’s business district, South Bank London, still lists 4 January as the last day and craft traders until 9pm; we go with the Southbank Centre, which runs it:

  • Dates: Monday 2 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027
  • Hours: stalls 11am to 10pm, bars 11am to 11pm
  • Closed: Friday 25 December, Thursday 31 December and Friday 1 January
  • Where: Alpine-style chalets along the Queen’s Walk, under Hungerford Bridge between the Royal Festival Hall and Jubilee Gardens
  • Entry: free; the Queen’s Walk is a public space, open all day

Expect street food, pop-up bars selling mulled wine, hot cider and hot chocolate, and gift stalls. From Clapham, Northern line trains on the Charing Cross branch run from Clapham Common and Clapham North to Waterloo, a short walk from the Queen’s Walk.

Brixton Village and Market Row

Brixton Village does not run a separate Christmas market; its independent traders in Granville Arcade and Market Row are the market, and it puts on a Christmas programme around them. In 2025 the programme launched on 29 November and ran to 23 December. It included:

  • Black Santa roaming the arcades on the opening Saturday, 29 November, 1pm to 5pm, for family photos.
  • Wrap Up Brixton, free gift wrapping at 74 Granville Arcade for anything bought from the village’s traders: Saturdays 2pm to 6pm and Sundays 1pm to 5pm, from 29 November to 21 December.
  • A Christmas brass band roaming the arcades on 6 and 13 December.

Brixton Village has not yet published its 2026 plans.

Santa

Two grottos have published 2026 dates: Battersea Arts Centre, 4 to 24 December at £15 a child, and Brixton Windmill’s Festive Fair on Sunday 6 December at £5.50 a child, booked online from 16 November. Our Santa’s grotto page has the details.

Still to be confirmed

  • November: Brixton Village’s Christmas programme, and the Makers Market’s hours for 22 November.

More for Christmas in Clapham