Short answer: Truro's Christmas market on Lemon Quay is listed to run daily from Saturday 21 November to Christmas Eve 2026, with late-night shopping on Wednesdays. The famous City of Lights lantern parade hasn't run in recent years, so don't plan a trip around it unless organisers announce a return.
2026 dates: Truro's Christmas market on Lemon Quay is listed to run from Saturday 21 November to Christmas Eve 2026, with Wednesdays and Saturdays running into the evening for late-night shopping.
This is one of our town-by-town winter guides — the full county picture is in Christmas and New Year in Cornwall 2026.
For twenty-odd years Truro's City of Lights was the night to plan around — giant willow-and-tissue lanterns made by schools and artists, paraded through the centre on a Wednesday in November to drums and bands. It hasn't run in recent years and there's no announced return for 2026. If it comes back we'll say so here; until then the market weekend and the lights switch-on are Truro's Christmas opening night.
2026: the City of Lights parade is not running this year. If organisers announce a return, we will add it here.
The route loops through the centre — Lemon Quay, Boscawen Street, the cathedral. Lemon Quay Truro has the most space and is where the lanterns gather at the end; Boscawen Street is tighter and more atmospheric. With small children, pick a spot on Lemon Quay by 6:30pm and stay put; the crowds don't move once the parade starts.
Roads in the centre close for the evening and the city car parks fill early. Use Truro Park and Ride Langarth or the Tregurra Park and Ride, which run late that night, or come by train — Truro Railway Station is a ten-minute walk down into town and you avoid every queue.
Truro's Christmas market sets up on Lemon Quay on selected days through late November and December, alongside late-night shopping evenings when the independents on Lemon Street and River Street stay open. The market is at its best on the late-night Wednesdays when the whole centre is lit and the cathedral is open.
Book. Hubbox Truro for burgers with kids, Bustopher Jones for a proper dinner. Our Truro guide has more.
The panto: Hall for Cornwall 2026.
See the full Truro guide, filtered by who's with you.
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