Short answer: A Saturday in late November: afternoon stalls and entertainment, a lantern parade through the town centre as it gets dark, and the lights switched on in the Parade. Free, easy with children, and parking is easier than in the coastal towns. Make a day of it with Siblyback or the moor in the morning.
This is one of our town-by-town winter guides — the full county picture is in Christmas and New Year in Cornwall 2026.
Liskeard Lights Up is the town's own festival — a community-made lantern parade, with schools and groups carrying lanterns built in workshops through November, winding through the centre as dusk falls to a switch-on in The Parade Liskeard, with stalls, food and music around it. It's small-town Christmas at its best, it's free, and it's much less of a crush than the coastal switch-ons — a good first one for a toddler.
2026 dates: not yet announced — a Saturday in the second half of November in recent years. Lantern-making workshops run in the weeks before; details from Liskeard Town Council. We update this line the moment organisers confirm.
Liskeard has more parking than it needs on a normal day; on Lights Up it's busy but manageable. Westbourne Car Park Liskeard and the Liskeard Railway Station car park both work, with the centre a five-minute walk. Some central roads close for the parade from late afternoon.
Liskeard is the gateway to the Bodmin Moor Christmas — Golitha Falls in frost is one of the best short walks in Cornwall, The Crows Nest Inn nearby is a proper winter pub, and the Looe Valley Line from Liskeard station is a lovely half-day out to Looe, which does its own big New Year's Eve.
The Fountain Hotel Liskeard and The Barley Sheaf Liskeard are the pubs in the middle of it all; Olive & Co Liskeard for lunch. Our Liskeard guide has the rest.
See the full Liskeard guide, filtered by who's with you.
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