Eight Christmas markets and fairs in Guildford, from the Cathedral fair on 20 November to the last farmers' market on 15 December. Dates, times, prices.
Guildford has no single Christmas market. It has a run of eight separate ones between 20 November and 15 December, in three different places: the Cathedral, the Guildford Pavilion and the closed-off High Street. They are run by different organisers, and only one of them charges to get in.
Here is the full run, with what each source actually says.
The dates
| Date | Market | Where | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 20 and Sat 21 Nov | Guildford Cathedral Christmas Fair | Guildford Cathedral | 10am to 4pm, £3 entry |
| Sat 21 Nov | Festive Market, curated by Dapper and Suave | Guildford Pavilion | 10am to 6pm |
| Sat 28 Nov | Christmas Youth Business Showcase Market | High Street | 9.30am to 3pm |
| Sun 29 Nov | German Christmas Mini Market | The Guildhall | Times not published |
| Tue 1 Dec | Guildford Christmas Farmers’ Market | High Street | From 10am |
| Sat 12 Dec | Christmas Arts and Makers Market | High Street | 10am to 4pm |
| Sun 13 Dec | Guildford Christmas Antiques and Vintage Market | High Street | From 10am |
| Tue 15 Dec | Christmas Guildford Farmers’ Market | High Street | 10am to 3pm |
Everything except the Cathedral fair is free to enter.
The Cathedral fair is the big one
Guildford Cathedral runs its Christmas Fair on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November 2026, 10am to 4pm, with over 50 stalls selling “bespoke Christmas gifts, decorations, spirits, jewellery, accessories, and more”. Entry is £3 per person at the door. The Cathedral Shop is open alongside it and Seasons, the cathedral café and restaurant, serves drinks, snacks and lunches (Guildford Cathedral).
Stallholder applications for this year have already closed. The cathedral asks anyone wanting next year’s call-out to join its mailing list.
This is the one to plan around if you want an actual browse-and-buy Christmas market rather than a market day on the High Street.
A date clash worth catching
Visit Guildford lists the Christmas Youth Business Showcase Market under the headline “28 November”, but the date field in the same listing reads “Saturday 21 November 2026 09:30 to 15:00” (Christmas markets in Guildford). Both 21 and 28 November are Saturdays this year, so neither is obviously wrong on its face.
Guildford Borough Council settles it. Its town centre closure schedule books the High Street for the “Youth Business Showcase” on Saturday 28 November, 7am to 6pm, and books nothing for a showcase on the 21st (town centre temporary road closures). A road closure order is an operational document rather than a listing, so we take 28 November as the date and the listing’s date field as the error. If you were going on the 21st, go on the 28th.
The 21st is not a wasted Saturday either: that is the Cathedral fair’s second day and the Guildford Pavilion Festive Market.
The Pavilion and the Guildhall
The Festive Market curated by Dapper and Suave is at the Guildford Pavilion on Saturday 21 November, 10am to 6pm. Visit Guildford’s page header for that listing reads “21 and 22 November 2026” while the listing card itself gives only Saturday the 21st. We have not found a source that confirms the Sunday, so treat the Saturday as certain and the Sunday as unconfirmed.
The German Christmas Mini Market is indoors at The Guildhall on the High Street, Sunday 29 November, with Glühwein promised. No times appear on the listing we could read, and there is no road closure booked for that day, which fits an event held inside the building rather than on the street.
The High Street market days
Four of the eight are the town’s regular street markets in Christmas dress, all on the pedestrianised upper High Street:
- Tuesday 1 December, Christmas Farmers’ Market, from 10am
- Saturday 12 December, Christmas Arts and Makers Market, 10am to 4pm
- Sunday 13 December, Christmas Antiques and Vintage Market, from 10am
- Tuesday 15 December, Christmas Farmers’ Market, 10am to 3pm
Two more fall before the Christmas run proper: an Arts and Makers Market on Sunday 1 November and a farmers’ market on Tuesday 3 November.
Every one of these closes the High Street from Quarry Street to the junction with North Street and Chertsey Street, along with The Shambles, Chapel Street and Market Street. The closures start earlier and end later than the market itself: 8am to 5pm for the farmers’ markets, 7am to 6pm for the Saturday makers market, 7am to 5.30pm for the Sunday antiques market. Full detail is on our roadworks and travel page.
Parking for a market day
The two Tuesday farmers’ markets are ordinary charging days. The three weekend markets are the ones to think about:
- Saturday charging runs to 6pm, then a flat £2.10 evening rate to 10pm. Arrive and pay between 5pm and 6pm at a multi storey and it is free.
- Sunday charging runs from 11am, so arriving before 11am for a 10am market opening costs nothing for the first hour. The free arrival window on a Sunday is 4pm to 5pm.
- Guildford Park is free all day Sunday and Walnut Tree Close is free at weekends, both a walk out from the High Street.
Castle, Tunsgate and Millbrook are nearest to the closed section. Rates and the rest of the detail are on our parking in Guildford page.
What else is on
- Illuminate Guildford, the castle light trail, opens 14 November.
- The Festive Family Fun Day opens the season on Sunday 15 November, with a Sparkle Vegan Market on the High Street the same day.
- Guildford Cathedral also has G4 Christmas on Thursday 26 November and a Nutcracker and Rachmaninov concert on Saturday 19 December.
New markets are still being added to the listings, so this page will grow. Check back before you travel: organisers change times, and the council’s closure schedule is the thing that moves last.
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