Camden Council holds no switch-on. Highgate village's lights return for 2026: last year's switch-on was 19 November, 4pm, South Grove. The date is due soon.

Camden Council does not hold a Christmas lights switch-on, and nothing in the borough has announced a 2026 date yet. The nearest thing to a town switch-on is in Highgate village, where a volunteer group lights the High Street every year and throws a free party on South Grove to start it. Last year that was Wednesday 19 November, 4pm to 5pm. The money for this year’s lights is being raised now, so the event is on; the date is not out.

The quick answer

  • Highgate village, South Grove N6: free switch-on, run by Highgate Festive Events with the Highgate Society. 2025: Wednesday 19 November, 4pm to 5pm. 2024: Thursday 21 November, 4.30pm. 2026 date not yet published.
  • Is it on this year? Yes, as far as the organisers have said: proceeds from June’s Fair in the Square raffle went to “the Highgate Christmas Lights 2026”.
  • Camden Town, King’s Cross, Hampstead: no 2026 switch-on announced. Camden Market’s season last year started on 6 December; King’s Cross has not loaded its Christmas programme.
  • No council event. Camden’s lights are put up by traders, estates and community groups, each on its own date.

Highgate village: the one with a switch-on

The Highgate Society’s post for last year, Highgate Village Christmas Lights 2025, set it out:

  • When: Wednesday 19 November 2025, 4pm to 5pm.
  • Where: South Grove, N6, outside the Highgate Society at 10a South Grove.
  • What: festive tunes from the Highgate Brass Ensemble and special guests Rupert Grint and Alex Zane.
  • For children: Father Christmas at the Riverstone Hub from 3pm to 4pm, before the switch-on.
  • For adults: an “Aperitivo Hour” at the Riverstone Hub from 5.30pm to 6.30pm, with registration through Riverstone.

The lights are paid for by local sponsors (last year Channing and Highgate schools, Streathers, Riverstone, Urban Baristas and Valouran) plus a long list of village businesses and residents’ donations through a JustGiving page. With enough money, the organisers said, they hoped to light Pond Square as well as the High Street.

The year before, the 2024 post put the switch-on at Thursday 21 November, 4.30pm, in South Grove, sponsored by Riverstone of 1 Hampstead Lane. Two years running, then, it has been a weekday late afternoon in the third week of November.

What we know about 2026

The Fair in the Square raffle, drawn in June, said all proceeds go to “the 2 main local events”, the Fair in the Square and “the Highgate Christmas Lights 2026”. The Highgate Society’s own Fair in the Square 2026 post says the same. So the lights are funded and planned.

What is missing is a date. As of 12 October the Highgate Society has published nothing about this year’s switch-on. Last year’s announcement went up on 29 October, three weeks before the event, so expect it in the next few weeks. We will put the date, time and any guests here as soon as it appears.

South Grove’s postcode, N6 6BS, is in Camden’s Highgate ward. Highgate village straddles the Camden and Haringey border, and the event is run by village volunteers rather than either council.

Hampstead High Street

Hampstead has had a switch-on, but not one with a published programme. The Camden New Journal reported on 9 December 2024 that the High Street lights were switched on and a tree lit “on Tuesday evening”, organised by the NW3 Business Association and ward councillor Stephen Stark, with the New End Primary School choir and free hot chocolate and mulled wine. The councillor said funding had been hard to find. We found no organiser page for a 2025 or 2026 Hampstead switch-on, so treat it as unconfirmed.

Camden Town and King’s Cross

Camden Market does not hold a switch-on. Its Christmas 2025 page, dated 13 November 2025, describes a season that “kicked off” on 6 December with The Big Sing choir, five real Christmas trees and “icicles and frosty lights” across the market. On 12 October its events listing had nothing festive for 2026 yet; last year’s programme was published in mid-November.

King’s Cross lights two big trees, a 60-foot Norwegian spruce in Granary Square and a 50-foot tree in Coal Drops Yard, but does not stage a switch-on. Its Christmas page is still last season’s (it lists Club Curling “until Sunday 1 March 2026”), and on 12 October its events listing ran only to the end of October. Last season the London Canal Museum ran King’s Cross Lights by Water narrowboat trips every Tuesday in December to see the lights from Regent’s Canal.

Everything else about Christmas in Camden Town and King’s Cross, including last year’s grotto and curling prices, is on our Camden Christmas market page.

What is not happening

There is no Kenwood light trail this winter. English Heritage told the Camden New Journal in May that the Halloween and Neverland trails “will not be returning to Kenwood in 2026”. Kenwood still has Father Christmas on December weekends: see our Kenwood winter page.

Getting there

South Grove runs beside Pond Square in the middle of Highgate village. If you are driving, read our parking in Camden page first, and check our Camden roadworks page for closures before you set off. A 4pm weekday start means the school run and the switch-on overlap, so arriving on foot or by bus is the easier option.

Sources

Checked on 12 October 2026. This page will be updated when the Highgate Society publishes the 2026 switch-on date.