Tadworth switches on twice on Wednesday 25 November: Station Approach at 4pm with the junior choir, then the High Street at 5pm with Phil Tufnell. Free event.
Tadworth has the first confirmed Christmas lights date in the borough: Wednesday 25 November 2026, from 3.30pm to 7pm, and it is free. While Reigate, Redhill and Banstead have published nothing for 2026, Tadworth’s event is already on Reigate and Banstead Borough Council’s events list with a full running order.
The unusual part is that the lights go on twice, at two ends of the village, with a procession between them.
The running order
- From 3.30pm, Station Approach. The evening starts here.
- 4pm, first switch-on at Station Approach, with singing from The Tadworth Junior Choir.
- Then follow the town crier through the church garden to see the nativity lights illuminated.
- 5pm, second switch-on on the High Street, with special guest Phil Tufnell.
- Until 7pm, music, carols, street entertainment and Christmas stalls.
The council also promises “free hospitality from our local businesses”, listing hot chocolate and Christmas treats.
Worth knowing before you go
Arrive for the start, not the middle. The two switch-ons are an hour apart and in different places, and the walk between them through the church garden is part of the event rather than a gap in it. Turning up at 4.30pm means missing the choir and arriving somewhere between the two.
The 25th is a Wednesday. Most switch-ons in this borough are on a Saturday or a Thursday evening. Tadworth’s is mid-week and starts before the school run has finished, so the 3.30pm opening is aimed at families walking home rather than people driving in after work.
Parking is the village’s normal problem, not an event one. Station Approach and the High Street are the two busiest parts of Tadworth and neither gains capacity for the evening. Tadworth station is on the Tattenham Corner line from London Bridge and Victoria, and the first switch-on is at the station itself, which makes the train the obvious way in.
The council gives a contact address for the event, p.brookwick@btinternet.com, which suggests it is community-run with council listing support rather than a council-delivered event. Nothing published names a rain plan, so treat the timings as fixed and the weather as your own problem.
What it means for you
- Wednesday 25 November 2026, 3.30pm to 7pm, Tadworth. Free.
- 4pm at Station Approach, then 5pm on the High Street. Two switch-ons, one evening.
- Go by train if you can. The event starts at the station.
- This is the only confirmed 2026 switch-on in Reigate and Banstead so far. The others are still unannounced.
Sources
- Tadworth Christmas Lighting Event, 25 November, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, for the date, the 15:30 to 19:00 window, the free entry, the 4pm Station Approach switch-on and the Tadworth Junior Choir, the town crier and nativity lights, the 5pm High Street switch-on with Phil Tufnell, the stalls and entertainment, and the contact address.
- All events, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, checked 5 September 2026, for the absence of any other confirmed borough switch-on.
More from Reigate News: Reigate Christmas lights switch-on, parking in Reigate and roadworks and travel.
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