Reading's ice rink opens 7 Nov at Hills Meadow: 45-minute sessions on the hour to 9pm, open Christmas Day, skating £5 extra on the £24 ride wristband.
Reading’s ice rink for Christmas 2026 is the real ice rink at Reading Winter Wonderland on Hills Meadow, Caversham. It opens on Saturday 7 November and runs to Sunday 3 January 2027, and sessions are on sale now through the organiser’s booking system.
The quick answer
- Is it on this year? Yes. The organiser’s TicketSource booking system is selling ice skating from Saturday 7 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027.
- Where: Hills Meadow, George Street, Caversham, RG4 8DH, by the Thames across from the town centre.
- Sessions: 45 minutes, starting on the hour. The last session starts at 9pm.
- Weekdays to Friday 11 December: sessions from 3pm. Weekends, and every day from Monday 14 December: from 11am.
- Christmas Day: open, with six sessions from 12pm to 5pm.
- Price: the organiser advertises a £24 unlimited ride wristband and says skating can be added for £5 more. A skating-only session is priced at checkout only.
Everything here was checked on 20 October 2026 against the organiser’s website and its booking system.
The rink
The organiser says it is making the rink bigger this year, to 560 square metres of skating surface, under a 900 square metre clear dome, so the weather does not stop a session. It has bought new skates and 30 seal and penguin skate aids for beginners, and stewards stay on the ice to help (Reading Winter Wonderland).
Entry to the fair itself is free. You pay for skating, rides and the grotto separately.
Session times
These are the start times the booking system was showing on 20 October. Each session lasts 45 minutes and holds up to 150 skaters.
| Days | First session | Last session | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday, 9 November to 11 December | 3pm | 9pm | 7 |
| Saturdays and Sundays | 11am | 9pm | 11 |
| Every day from Monday 14 December to Christmas Eve | 11am | 9pm | 11 |
| Christmas Day, Friday 25 December | 12pm | 5pm | 6 |
| Boxing Day to Sunday 3 January, including New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day | 11am | 9pm | 11 |
The weekday afternoon start matches the organiser’s FAQ, which gives the fair’s hours as 3pm to 10pm Monday to Friday, 11am to 10pm at weekends, and 11am to 10pm daily from 15 December. The booking system already has full-day sessions on Monday 14 December, a day earlier.
On the dates we sampled, almost every session had all 150 places free; a few on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day had started to sell.
What it costs
The organiser’s home page advertises an unlimited ride wristband at £24, giving four hours of rides, and says ice skating can be added for £5 more. The giant wheel, bungee trampolines and game stalls are not included in the wristband (TicketSource).
For regulars, the booking system also sells two season passes, both for one session a day across the whole run:
| Pass | Price including booking fee |
|---|---|
| Ice Skating Season Pass | £109.72 |
| Unlimited Ride plus Ice Skating Season Pass | £192.01 |
Season passes are booked in the holder’s name, cannot be transferred, and need ID each visit.
Skating on its own: the price for a single session appears only at the checkout stage, which we could not open. We will add it here once it is published elsewhere. The organiser’s FAQ still lists older wristband prices (£20, or £25 with skating), so go by the home page and the booking system.
The FAQ also says tickets are not refunded but dates can be changed, subject to availability, that there is a student discount with ID, that groups of 20 or more should contact the organiser, and that wheelchairs can go on the ice, ideally at quieter times.
Booking
Book online through the Reading Winter Wonderland booking page, which opens the TicketSource system, or buy at the on-site box office if places are left. The organiser says skating “often” sells out, so book ahead for weekends and the Christmas holidays.
Parking and getting there
Hills Meadow car park sits next to the fair and is pay and display, at £3.70 for two hours and £11.60 for 24 hours on the council’s tariff (parking in Reading). The fair takes over part of the car park during the run, so on busy December weekends expect it to fill. The council’s planning report describes the site as about five minutes’ walk from Reading station.
Check Reading roadworks and travel before driving in, especially on the Saturday of the Christmas lights switch-on, 14 November.
The planning permission
The fair needs planning permission each winter. Council officers recommended approval for this year’s application (PL/26/1116), covering 7 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, at the Planning Applications Committee on 7 October (agenda). The minutes had not been published when we checked. More on the application is in our Winter Wonderland story.
Also at Hills Meadow
The Winter Wonderland’s Santa’s grotto runs on ten December dates from 5 December: see our Santa’s grotto page. For the rest of the season, see the Reading Christmas market and what’s on in Reading this month.
Sources
- Reading Winter Wonderland, home page, ice rink page and FAQ, checked 20 October 2026.
- Reading Winter Wonderland on TicketSource, session dates, times, availability and season pass prices, checked 20 October 2026.
- Reading Borough Council, Planning Applications Committee, 7 October 2026, item 13, PL/26/1116.
Have your say