Hexham switches on on Friday 20 November and Blyth on Saturday 21 November, 10am to 6pm in the Market Place. Alnwick, Morpeth and Ashington: no date yet.

Two Northumberland switch-ons now have confirmed 2026 dates: Hexham on Friday 20 November and Blyth on Saturday 21 November. The other towns are still to publish one; most of these dates land in October.

This page is built from what each town council has actually published, not from last year’s dates dressed up as this year’s. Where we give a 2025 date it is labelled as one, so you can judge the likely week without being misled.

Town 2026 date Source
Blyth Sat 21 Nov, 10am to 6pm, Market Place Blyth Town Council
Alnwick Not published Alnwick Town Council
Hexham Fri 20 Nov, times to follow Hexham Town Council
Morpeth Not published Morpeth Town Council
Ashington Not published Ashington Town Council
Berwick-upon-Tweed No switch-on event published Berwick-upon-Tweed Town Council
Ponteland No ceremony, lights on in early December Ponteland Town Council
Cramlington Not published Cramlington Town Council

Blyth: Saturday 21 November, all day in the Market Place

Blyth Town Council’s event page gives the date as 21 November 2026, the times as 10:00 to 18:00, and the place as Blyth Market Place, NE24 1BW.

What the council says will be there: “fantastic live entertainment”, “panto madness, cheerful performances”, and, as the highlight of the evening, “the lighting of our beautiful Christmas tree”. It calls it the council’s “final big event of the year”, the other two being the fireworks on 31 October and the town’s remembrance services.

The council has not yet published the moment the lights actually come on, only the 10am to 6pm window, so if the switch-on itself is the bit you care about, aim for dusk and watch the council’s page for a running order nearer the time.

Hexham: Friday 20 November

Hexham Town Council pays for the town’s lights and describes the night on its Christmas Lights page: the town is lit “from the bridge to the Market Place”, and “towards the end of November everyone gathers together to mark the switch-on with carols and a visit from Santa”. The tree is donated: “every year Egger picks out a very special tree and brings it to the town”.

Updated 25 September: the council’s events calendar now has a Christmas Lights Switch On entry dated 20/11/2026, a Friday. It says only “Save the date. All times will be released nearer the time.” The same calendar carries the fireworks on 7 November.

Alnwick: the 2025 night, and what has not been said about this one

Alnwick Town Council’s Christmas Lights switch-on event page is still dated 21 November 2025, 6pm to 8.30pm, and it describes the night in detail: entertainment in Alnwick Market Place from 6pm, food, carols, local schoolchildren bringing decorations for the Alnwick Christmas Lights Committee to hang on the tree and on the Northumberland Hall, and then the Duchess of Northumberland helping a young Alnwick resident switch the lights on at 7pm, with independent shops staying open.

That is a good guide to the shape of the evening. It is not this year’s date. The council’s events list currently runs to 31 December 2026 and has no switch-on in it, so nothing has been fixed publicly yet.

The lights themselves are run by a separate volunteer group, Alnwick Christmas Lights, whose donations are collected through Alnwick and District Round Table.

Morpeth: the event page has gone

Morpeth’s switch-on has been a Bridge Street event with free family activities. As at 5 September the town council’s own page for it, morpeth-tc.gov.uk/council_events/morpeths-christmas-lights-switch-on/, returns a 404, and its November 2026 calendar lists only the Annual Hollon Tea on 5 November and the Remembrance Day service on Sunday 8 November. December is empty.

That is what a not-yet-scheduled event looks like on this council’s site rather than a cancellation, but there is no date to give you today.

Berwick-upon-Tweed: lights, but no published ceremony

Berwick-upon-Tweed Town Council funds the town’s festive lighting and sets out exactly what it pays for: lights along Marygate, West Street, Castlegate and Golden Square, and seven illuminated Christmas trees running from the Morrisons roundabout on North Road, through Berwick and Tweedmouth, to the Spittal Spa Well. The council also funds the lights in Bridge Street and the array across the Royal Tweed Bridge, which are provided and maintained by Berwick Rotary Club.

It publishes no switch-on event of its own.

Ponteland: no switch-on at all

Worth knowing before you plan an evening around one. Ponteland Town Council says plainly that the displays on Main Street, Bell Villas and Coates Green, and at the Merton Way and Broadway shopping centres, are put up by Northumberland County Council and “are usually switched on at the beginning of December and remain on until the beginning of January”. There is no ceremony.

Ashington and Cramlington

Ashington Town Council’s upcoming events list is currently empty. Its 2025 event was substantial: a Christmas Light Switch-On and lantern parade on Thursday 13 November 2025, 3pm to 7pm, along the one-way section of Station Road and at the Masonic Hall on John Street, with free lantern-making, face painting and a story corner from 3pm to 5pm. It was funded partly from the council’s events budget and partly through Northumberland County Council’s Animating Ashington autumn and winter festival, itself paid for by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund through the North East Combined Authority. Whether that funding repeats is the question to watch.

Cramlington Town Council’s events page currently lists only a craft club, on 7 October and 4 November.

Also on across the county in December

Kielder Winter Wonderland runs over multiple dates from 28 November to 23 December 2026, 9.30am to 5pm, at Kielder Waterside, NE48 1BT. It is a ticketed, full-day outdoor experience aimed at children between three and ten, with a relaxed performance for families living with additional needs. It is not a switch-on and it is not free, but it is the county’s biggest Christmas fixture and it sells out.

Getting there and parking

Council car parks in Northumberland town centres are free, including in Blyth, but five towns need a £1 parking disc in their short-stay bays: Alnwick, Berwick, Hexham, Morpeth and Ponteland. Not displaying one is a £50 penalty. Blyth Market Place is walkable from the free all-day car parks at Keel Row, King Street, High Street and Freehold Street.

Full tariffs and disc rules are on our Northumberland parking page, and anything digging up a route into town will be on our roadworks and travel page.

Sources