When will the Christmas lights be turned on in central London?

London is about to get its twinkle on!
Oxford Street Christmas lights
The Oxford Street Christmas lights last year
PA
Beril Naz Hassan31 October 2023

As soon as the Halloween festivities featuring witches, pumpkins and ghouls come to an end, the joyful space it holds in our minds and lives gets replaced with Christmas

Everyone starts counting down to the time of the year when adorned trees will take over everyone’s homes, gift shopping will get under way and quaint streets across the country will be lit up with beautiful light displays. 

And, countless Brits start planning their calendars around when the various Christmas light displays go up in the likes of Oxford Street, Carnaby, Regent Street and more. 

But, when will the lights actually get switched on? Here is everything we know.

When will the Christmas lights in London go up? 

Oxford Street is one of the best places to be during the Christmas season, with light displays that always leave everyone in awe. 

This year, the Christmas displays across Oxford Street will include 300,000 LED light bulbs and showcase recycled plastic. They are due to be illuminated on Thursday November 2. 

Carnaby Street, which designs a unique light arrangement every year, will also go live that day. This year, the street promises to transport visitors to a Carnaby Universe full of neon colours and bright lights. 

Plus, for the fourth year in a row, Carnaby Street will be partnering with the refugee charity Choose Love, which will open a pop-up store from November 22 onwards. The store will offer visitors the opportunity to buy essential supplies and life-saving interventions for refugees and displaced individuals.

Meanwhile, the Christmas lights in Covent Garden will be lit up on Tuesday November 7. With an 18-metre Christmas tree, and giant twinkling bells throughout the Market Building, the display is sure to bring you some festive joy.

As for the Christmas light arrangements in Regent Street and St James's Street, Brits can stop by from Thursday November 9 to see them twinkling. 

The Spirits of Christmas display will feature 45 large-scale figures playing trumpets. The lights will be on from 3pm to 11pm throughout the festive period.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in