Reading Christmas Market: Broad Street, 14 Nov to 3 Jan

Reading has five Christmas markets this year, and only one of them runs for more than a weekend. The Broad Street Christmas Market opens on Saturday 14 November 2026, on the same afternoon as the town’s Christmas lights switch-on, and runs to Sunday 3 January 2027.

Updated 26 October: two more markets are now listed for the first weekend of December: Reading Alternative Market’s Gothmas at the Biscuit Factory on 5 and 6 December, and the Indie Market at Double-Barrelled Brewery on 6 December. The Town Hall market now advertises only its £40 6ft tables to its waiting list.

Updated 3 October: Visit Reading has published the Broad Street market’s 2026 dates and hours, 14 November to 3 January, 10am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sundays.

Everything here was first checked on 4 September 2026 against the organisers’ own listings and rechecked on 26 October. Where 2026 details are missing, this page says so.

Broad Street, 14 November to 3 January

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.

It runs to Sunday 3 January 2027. Visit Reading’s Broad Street market page, now rewritten for this year, gives “14 November 2026 to 3 January 2027”. Stalls open 10am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sundays, the same hours as last year. The page does not list any days the market closes, such as Christmas Day; check nearer the time if you plan a visit between Christmas and New Year.

That settles a muddle over last year’s run, when the same site gave two different end dates, 2 January in the BID’s switch-on announcement and 4 January on the market page.

What is on the stalls this year, from the same page: German bratwurst, toasted marshmallows, hot sugared doughnuts, crepes, waffles, giant cookies, handmade fudge, a cheese stall, roasted chestnuts, glühwein and non-alcoholic mulled wine, Christmas stockings, decorations and a Christmas carvery. It is a food and drink market first and a gift market second. If you want handmade goods from local makers, the 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.

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. On 26 October the listing quoted only 6ft tables at £40, offered to the waiting list for “this additional space”; the £35 4ft tables it listed earlier have gone. 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.

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.

Two more in December

Both are listed on What’s On Reading by their organisers, both are free and neither needs a ticket.

Reading Alternative Market Does Gothmas, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December, 10.30am to 4.30pm, Reading Biscuit Factory, 1 Queens Walk (corner of Oxford Road), RG1 7QE. Different traders on each day, so it is worth both if this is your thing: gothic art, horror greetings cards, alternative clothes, crystals, skulls and witches’ hats, with mulled wine, mince pies and a Krampus grotto, according to the organiser’s listing.

Reading’s Indie Market at Christmas, Sunday 6 December, 1pm to 5.30pm, Double-Barrelled Brewery, Unit 20 Stadium Way, Tilehurst, RG30 6BX. Local arts, crafts and produce in the brewery taproom, with street food and twelve beers on tap. The listing says it is family friendly, dogs are welcome and parking is free, which is the main reason to pick it over the town centre on a December Sunday.

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, the Town Hall on 21 November, or the Indie Market on 6 December.
• For something less traditional: Gothmas at the Biscuit Factory, 5 and 6 December.
• 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 if Reading BID publishes Christmas Day or New Year closures for the Broad Street market.