Newquay at Christmas: The Lights Switch-On With Fireworks, Then the Boxing Day Swims

Short answer: Newquay's Christmas weekend (the lights switch-on, markets and festivities) is Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November 2026, and the lantern parade is the Friday before, 20 November. On New Year's Eve there's a fancy-dress party in the streets. On Boxing Day there's a beach swim at Watergate Bay in the morning and the harbour 'Dip for CLIC' at 1:30pm.

2026 dates: Newquay's Christmas weekend — the lights, markets and festivities — is in Newquay BID's diary for Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November 2026, with the switch-on on the Friday evening. The lantern parade is a week earlier, on Friday 20 November. Confirm the time on the Newquay BID or town council pages nearer the day.

This is one of our town-by-town winter guides — the full county picture is in Christmas and New Year in Cornwall 2026.

The switch-on

Newquay does its Christmas lights properly: a Friday in late November with a market, live music and carols through the afternoon, the switch-on itself, then a fireworks display. It's free and family-shaped — the town centre is pedestrianised for the evening, so pushchairs and small children are fine as long as you're in position before the fireworks and can bear a slow walk out afterwards.

2026 dates: lights, markets and festivities Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November; lantern parade Friday 20 November (Newquay BID's diary). Times to follow.

Where to park

Centre car parks fill by mid-afternoon on switch-on night. Manor Road Car Park Newquay and Mount Wise Car Park Newquay are the ones to try, or park at the Newquay Railway Station end and walk in. If you're staying in Newquay, walk.

Boxing Day: two swims, two moods

• Watergate Bay, morning. A beach swim run from the surf school end, with hot chocolate afterwards. Wide open, plenty of room to watch, a good one for families where some are swimming and some very much aren't. Watergate Bay Beach has a big car park that still fills.
• Newquay harbour, 1:30pm — the 'Dip for CLIC'. The town's own, off the harbour slip, raising money for Young Lives vs Cancer, with fancy dress and a crowded quayside of spectators. Arrive well before 1pm to see anything.

What to know before you go in

• No wetsuits is the tradition at most Cornish festive swims; check the organiser's page for each.
• Get in, get out. Two minutes is a swim. The cold does strange things after five.
• Dry robe or big towel and warm layers ready on the sand, and a flask.
• Children: in the shallows with an adult holding a hand, and out fast.

And the rest of the season

Lappa Valley, ten minutes inland, runs Father Christmas trains on weekends from late November — book. The Boxing Day walk is the headland: Towan Head Newquay out past the Huer's Hut, blowy and glorious. Our Newquay guide has where's open for lunch.

Pantos: every panto in Cornwall 2026.