Short answer: Redruth in Lights, the town's Christmas festival and lights switch-on, is on Saturday 5 December 2026. It's free and organised by Redruth Town Council. The 2026 programme hasn't been published yet; in recent years it has run from midday with a market, a lantern parade and the switch-on at the Miner statue as it gets dark, ending with a wassail at the Buttermarket.
Redruth's Christmas starts with a whole day in the town centre: stalls, music, a lantern parade made by local schools and the switch-on, and it's one of the most community-run Christmas events in Cornwall.
Saturday 5 December 2026. The date is confirmed by the organisers; the timetable will follow, and the council is already recruiting a schools co-ordinator for the parade.
The 2026 details aren't out yet. Here's how it ran in 2024, which gives you the shape of the day:
In 2024 it ran from about 12pm to 6:30pm. We'll update this page with the 2026 programme.
5 December is also the first Saturday of the month, when the regular Redruth Town Market runs on Market Way, Market Strand and in the Buttermarket, 10am to 2pm.
The Christmas grotto is confirmed for 2026 at the Civic Centre, with the Mineral Point room turned into a winter wonderland and Christmas activities in the library. Dates aren't published yet. In 2024 the grotto ran on two December Saturdays, free, with donations to the children's bereavement charity Penhaligon's Friends.
Town-centre car parks fill on the day; council car parks are free after 4pm. New Cut is the only one taking cash. Or come by train: Redruth station is a few minutes' walk from the centre. See Redruth parking.
The Buttermarket is the obvious base, with street food and a bar. For a pasty, here's where locals go.
Every switch-on and Christmas event in the county: Christmas in Cornwall 2026 · what's on in December.
Times, prices and dates are the organisers' and businesses' to change — check before you travel. Spotted something we've got wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Christmas Day: who's doing lunch in Redruth.
See the full Redruth guide, filtered by who's with you.
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