Lights go on 4pm to 7pm on Thursday 26 November, then chalets on Church Walk to Sunday 29. Hours, what is still TBC, parking and the 8 November parade.

Burgess Hill’s Christmas lights go on during the evening of Thursday 26 November 2026, and this year the switch-on is the opening act of a festival that then runs for another three days.

The town council has confirmed the dates and hours. It has not yet published the full schedule or the headline acts, so what follows is what is fixed and what is not.

Updated 3 October: the chalets and all trailer and van spaces are now fully booked and performer applications have closed; the full schedule is still “coming soon”. Remembrance Sunday timings and road closures are now published, below.

Dates and opening hours

Day Date Open
Thursday 26 November 11am to 7pm
Friday 27 November 11am to 7pm
Saturday 28 November 10am to 8pm
Sunday 29 November 10am to 4pm

Everything happens on Church Walk, the pedestrianised shopping street between Church Road and Market Place, with some performances in Market Place itself. (Burgess Hill Town Council)

The hours are longer than last year. The council says that following feedback from the 2025 event “the hours will be extended with the chalets open from 11am Thursday and Friday, and 10am on Saturday and Sunday”.

The switch-on itself

The council’s wording is specific about the window and vague about the moment: “Tobias will be on stage 4-7pm getting the crowd going and turning on the lights with some special guests.”

So plan for a three-hour block from 4pm on the Thursday rather than a fixed countdown time. The exact minute the lights go on has not been announced. Neither have the “special guests”.

Also confirmed for the Thursday, alongside the chalets from 11am:

  • Musical entertainment, performances and walkabout acts along Church Walk
  • Free children’s craft sessions, which are bookable rather than drop-in
  • Theatre performances
  • A free teacup ride
  • Santa’s Grotto

Friday to Sunday

The council says each of the three remaining days has a headline act, “as well as multiple performances in Market Place and along Church Walk”, plus free activities. The line-ups are not published. The council’s own phrase is “keep an eye out for the full schedule, coming soon”, and as of 3 October that is still the wording, so the programme has not been released.

The chalets are the other draw. They were tried in 2025 and are back for a longer run in 2026, and the council says every chalet is now booked.

Getting there and parking

The practical point most people miss: Mid Sussex District Council’s pay and display charges run 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 5pm on Sundays and bank holidays. (Mid Sussex District Council)

That means the town centre car parks are free from 6pm on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which covers the switch-on itself and the Saturday evening session that runs to 8pm. The Sunday is the exception: charges apply all the way to 5pm, an hour after the festival closes.

Full charges, car park by car park, are on our parking page, and any closures or works around the town centre that week will be on our roadworks and travel page. No road closure order for the festival had been advertised on the Public Notice Portal when we checked on 5 September.

Traders, performers and stallholders

The chalets are fully booked for 2026, as are all the trailer and van spaces, and applications from performers have closed. The council is booking the last of its gazebo spaces through a registration form on its festival page. Its community engagement team can be reached at communityteam@burgesshill.gov.uk or 01444 247726.

Remembrance in Burgess Hill, 8 and 11 November

The town council has now published the timings. The Remembrance Parade on Sunday 8 November leaves the rear of Cyprus Road car park at 10.15am, with a rolling road closure, and ends with a service and wreath laying at the War Memorial Garden, followed by a service at St John’s.

Road closures from 10am on 8 November: Church Road, Civic Way (east of Lower Church Road), Crescent Road, Crescent Way, Cyprus Road and Mill Road (south of Cyprus Road). The back of Cyprus Road car park cannot be used from 9.45am while the parade forms up.

On Wednesday 11 November the Armistice Day service starts at 10.45am, with a short march from the Help Point in Church Walk to the War Memorial and the two minutes’ silence. (Burgess Hill Town Council) (Burgess Hill Town Council) East Grinstead and Haywards Heath are on our Mid Sussex Remembrance Sunday page.

For the bonfire season, the town’s own society opened the Sussex calendar on Saturday 26 September. Dates and details for every display in the district are on our Mid Sussex fireworks page.

Sources