Broad Street's market opens with the lights switch-on on Saturday 14 November. No closing date is set, and two Reading pages disagree on last year's.

Reading has three Christmas markets this year, and only one of them runs for more than a day. The Broad Street Christmas Market opens on Saturday 14 November 2026, on the same afternoon as the town’s Christmas lights switch-on, and stays up through December.

Everything here was checked on 4 September 2026 against the organisers’ own listings. Where 2026 details are missing, this page says so.

Broad Street, from 14 November

The opening date is confirmed. What’s On Reading, run by Reading Arts and Venues as part of Reading Borough Council, states that the Broad Street Christmas Markets “will officially open too” on Saturday 14 November, with the switch-on following at around 5pm. It is run by Reading Business Improvement District and funded by town centre businesses. Entry is free.

The closing date has not been published. That matters, because the market is the town centre’s main festive draw for six or seven weeks, and two Reading tourism pages currently give two different end dates for last year’s run:

Both are published by Visit Reading. Neither has been updated for 2026, so treat any date you see beyond mid-November as unconfirmed until the BID publishes this year’s.

Last year’s opening hours, for planning only, were 10am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sunday.

What the stalls sold in 2025, from the BID’s own list: German bratwurst and a Christmas carvery, toasted marshmallows, waffles, doughnuts and giant cookies, fudge, crepes and pick and mix, a cheese stall and roasted chestnuts, glühwein and a non-alcoholic mulled wine, plus decorations, stockings and gifts. It is a food and drink market first and a gift market second. If you want handmade goods from local makers, the two one-day markets below are the better bet.

Reading Town Hall, Saturday 21 November

The council’s own market, held inside rather than on the street.
Date Saturday 21 November 2026
Time 10.30am to 4.30pm
Where Reading Museum, the Concert Hall and the Concert Hall Foyer, Blagrave Street, RG1 1QH
Entry Free

It is fully accessible, with level entry through the main glass doors or step entry via the clock tower, according to the Town Hall listing. Stallholders sell alongside the Reading Museum shop.

If you were hoping to take a stall, you are too late. The listing is marked Sold Out and states that all stalls are fully booked, with a waiting list run through thepantrycafe@reading.gov.uk. Table prices were £40 for a 6ft stall and £35 for a limited number of 4ft stalls. The organisers cap duplicate products deliberately, and food and drink stalls are not accepted unless the product is packaged to take home, which is why this one reads as a gift market rather than a food market.

Artisa in Caversham, Sunday 15 November

The day after the switch-on, and the one worth knowing about if you want handmade rather than mass produced.
Date Sunday 15 November 2026
Time 10am to 3.30pm
Where MADEbyTamalia, Creativ.Spaces Art Studio, 2B Southview Business Park, Marsack Street, Caversham, RG4 5AF
Entry Free

Its listing promises 40 local makers in 35 gazebos, a Santa’s grotto, children’s craft activities, face painting, a choir, hot and cold food, barista coffee and homemade cakes. This is its sixth year and the organisers say each of the last three drew over 700 people.

Parking is the reason to pick this one over the town centre. The venue points to free two hour and unlimited road parking on the adjacent streets, one to five minutes’ walk away. It is also about ten minutes on foot from Caversham centre and fifteen from Reading town centre.

Which one to go to

  • For food, drink and an evening out: Broad Street, any day from 14 November.
  • For gifts made by the person selling them: Artisa on 15 November, or the Town Hall on 21 November.
  • For a short trip with a toddler: Artisa. It has the grotto, the craft activities and the parking. The Broad Street market on a Saturday afternoon in December is the opposite of that.

Getting there and parking

The Broad Street and Town Hall markets are both a short walk from Reading station and both sit inside the pedestrianised core, so you are parking and walking either way. Our Reading parking page sets out every council tariff, and the two car parks that are free all day on a Sunday are worth knowing about if you are going to Artisa or shopping on a Sunday in December. Check the Reading roadworks and travel page before driving in.

This page will be updated when Reading BID publishes the Broad Street market’s 2026 closing date.