Dulwich College Christmas Fair is Sunday 22 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm, with 130-plus stalls. West Dulwich, Village and Gallery markets: what is known so far.

The one Dulwich Christmas market with a confirmed 2026 date is the Dulwich College Christmas Fair, on Sunday 22 November from 10.30am to 3.30pm. The other three that come round every year, the Love West Dulwich fair, the Village’s Christmas Stocking and So Last Century’s vintage market at Dulwich Picture Gallery, have not published 2026 dates as of 6 October. Here is what each one has said, and when the rest usually land.

Market Where 2026 date Status
Dulwich College Christmas Fair Dulwich College, SE21 Sunday 22 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm Confirmed
Love West Dulwich Christmas Fair Croxted, Park Hall and Rosendale Roads Not announced (2025: Saturday 29 November) TBC
So Last Century Christmas Vintage Market Dulwich Picture Gallery Gallery lists 5 and 6 December, organiser silent Unconfirmed
Christmas Stocking Dulwich Village Not announced (2024: Sunday 8 December) TBC
Horniman Market Horniman Gardens, SE23 Every Sunday, 10am to 3pm Weekly, free

Dulwich College Christmas Fair: Sunday 22 November

The Friends of Dulwich College run it, and they bill it as the largest Christmas fair in south-east London. Their fair site confirms that the College “will once again be hosting the Christmas Fair on 22nd November 2026 from 10.30am-3.30pm”.

What the organisers have published:

  • Where: the Barry Buildings, cloisters and courtyards of Dulwich College, Dulwich Common, SE21 7LD.
  • Size: “about 2000 visitors” and “over 130 stalls”, by the organisers’ own count.
  • For children: Father Christmas, with Santa’s Grotto in the main school Reception, and a KidZone in the Auditorium kept for children and College stalls.
  • Food: a street food market on the South Gravel, outside the South Cloister. Tea, coffee, cake and mulled wine are sold in “Santa’s Waiting Room”, the Staff Common Room off the North Gravel.
  • Dogs are not permitted on site.
  • Access: the North and South Blocks have limited wheelchair access because the ramps are steep, the organisers say, but “every year we have many wheelchair users who enjoy the fair”; ask a marshal for help.

Not yet published: the programme (the programme page says “not available yet”), any entry charge, and the grotto price. The organisers’ parking page is for stallholders only; nothing says visitors can park on site.

Love West Dulwich Christmas Fair: late November, date TBC

A street fair along Croxted Road, Park Hall Road and Rosendale Road, run by Love West Dulwich, a group of local businesses and residents. It is the one Dulwich event with a real tree lighting.

The Dulwich Society’s listing of the 2025 fair gives Saturday 29 November, 10am to 4pm, with this running order:

  • 10.45am Alleyn’s Oakfield Choir
  • 11am story time at Dulwich Books
  • 12pm Hound & Co best dressed dog competition
  • 2pm Miss Christmas’s Jingle Bells Show by Wigwam Toy Shop
  • 2.30pm Elmwood School choir
  • 3.30pm Christmas tree lighting with Miss Christmas
  • All day: Santa’s grotto at Wigwam Toy Shop, decoration painting, gingerbread decorating and free face painting at the Rosendale Road market, and stalls from local makers, artists and businesses

Earlier years follow the same pattern: The Dulwich Estate dated the fair to Saturday 25 November in 2023 and Saturday 24 November in 2018. So expect a late November Saturday. The 2026 date has not been posted; the group announces on @lovewestdulwich.

So Last Century’s Christmas Vintage Market has been at the Gallery two years running: Saturday 30 November and Sunday 1 December 2024, its first time there, and Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 December 2025, 10am to 5pm, with 20 vintage traders in the Linbury Room, Art Studio and Cloisters, more stalls in the gardens, and free ticketed entry.

For 2026, the two sources disagree, so treat it as unconfirmed:

  • The Gallery’s own event page gives the dates as 5 to 6 December 2025, 10am to 3pm. But it describes a Saturday and Sunday, names the Hokusai and Charlie Mackesy exhibitions that open this autumn, and adds Forest Hill Christmas trees for sale in the grounds. 5 and 6 December fall on a Saturday and Sunday in 2026, not 2025. It looks like this year’s market with last year’s year on it.
  • So Last Century’s own Next Events page lists no Dulwich Christmas date for 2026; its next fair is in Catford on 24 and 25 October.

Until the organiser lists it, do not plan around 5 and 6 December or the 3pm finish. We will update this page when it does.

Christmas Stocking in Dulwich Village: early December, date TBC

Christmas Stocking is the Village traders’ festive day, not a market as such, but in 2024 it included one: the Crown and Greyhound Christmas market, midday to 4pm. The Dulwich Estate’s 2024 notice put the whole day at 11am to 5pm on Sunday 8 December, in Dulwich Square and through the Village, with school choirs, Popchoir at 2pm, a children’s disco at St Barnabas Parish Hall and the Mystery Stocking Trail.

Earlier dates: Sunday 3 December 2023, Saturday 10 December 2022, Sunday 2 December 2018. We could find no Estate notice for 2025, and nothing for 2026 yet. Notices usually go up in late November. More on the Village’s lights and the West Dulwich tree on our Christmas lights page.

Every Sunday: Horniman Market

If you just want a market, the Horniman Market runs every Sunday, 10am to 3pm, on the Bandstand Terrace in the Horniman Gardens. It is free and drop-in, with fruit and veg, bread, cheese, meat and street food plus guest traders and crafts, according to the Horniman.

Getting there and parking

None of these organisers offers visitor parking. Dulwich College sits on Dulwich Common (the South Circular), and West Dulwich station is the closest rail stop. So Last Century advised 2025 visitors to the Gallery to use public transport, walk or cycle, noting West Dulwich is an 8-minute walk and North Dulwich 12 minutes. Village and West Dulwich events close no roads that we know of, but the shopping streets are short and busy on fair days.

Also this Christmas

Sources