Liverpool does Christmas with a mix of big outdoor set pieces and indoor shows in some of its grandest buildings. This year the centrepiece is a new ice rink and Christmas market on St George’s Plateau, opposite Lime Street station, and both cathedrals and Everton’s new stadium have light shows and concerts. Here are the 2026 dates we could confirm on the organisers’ own websites in November 2026, plus the opening times you need for the main attractions over the holidays.
Skate St George’s: ice rink, market and big wheel
From Saturday 21 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, St George’s Plateau in front of St George’s Hall becomes Skate St George’s, an outdoor ice rink run by Underbelly. Around it there is a Christmas market of local traders, a rooftop bar, a big wheel, a Christmas tree maze, a Santa train and a carousel. It is open every day except Christmas Day.
Standard hours are:
- Monday to Thursday: 12pm to 10pm
- Friday and Saturday: 10am to 11pm
- Sunday: 10am to 10pm
The exceptions are the opening day, Saturday 21 November (2pm to 11pm), Christmas Eve (10am to 6pm), and Boxing Day and New Year’s Day (12pm to 10pm). The first skating session starts 15 minutes after opening and the last 45 minutes before closing. Book skating sessions online for busy periods; the big wheel, maze and carousel are paid for by card at each ride. The site is five minutes’ walk from Lime Street and Queen Square bus station.
Liverpool ONE
The shopping district has a new 30-metre Christmas tree at Paradise Place that you can walk through, alongside its bauble arch, reindeer and angel wings. The Christmas Toy Parade, with dancing toys and Santa, is on Saturday 14 November. Festive Thursdays bring free live entertainment through December, and the first Wishmas day of free festive entertainment is on Saturday 5 December. Ice-free curling, karaoke huts and shuffleboard are at Chavasse Park.
Noël at Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral’s Christmas light and sound show returns with a new production, Noël by Luxmuralis, from 27 November to 5 December 2026. Projections, music and storytelling turn the arches and stonework of Britain’s largest cathedral into a canvas for the story and traditions of Christmas. Previous shows have sold out, so book early.
Carol services at the cathedral through Advent and Christmas are free and open to all. Carols for Christmas Eve is at 4pm on 24 December. Christmas by Candlelight, a ticketed concert of festive hits with West End singers, is on Monday 21 December at 6.45pm. From 26 December to 12 February the cathedral switches to winter hours: 10am to 4pm on weekdays and 10am to 5pm at weekends.
Enchanted Lights at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Everton’s new waterfront stadium hosts The Magic of Christmas this December. Its Enchanted Lights experience, from Friday 11 to Wednesday 23 December, leads along an illuminated trail, down the players’ tunnel and into the stands for a light show, finishing in a festive village called Christmas in the Yard; a visit to Santa’s Grotto can be added. Breakfast with Santa, including a mini stadium tour, runs from 18 to 23 December. Regular stadium tours do not run from 17 to 29 December.
Strawberry Field
Strawberry Field, the John Lennon attraction in Woolton, holds a free Christmas craft fair on Saturday 28 November from 10am to 4pm. Community carols with the Walton Salvation Army Band are on Wednesday 16 December at 5pm, and Storytime with Father Christmas on Friday 18 December from 12.30pm. Strawberry Field closes over Christmas and New Year.
At the museums
The giant Blackler’s Father Christmas, which towered over shoppers in Blackler’s department store from 1957 to 1988, returns to the atrium of the Museum of Liverpool on 24 November. Little Liverpool, the museum’s gallery for under-sixes, runs Christmas sessions from 1 to 23 December, Tuesday to Sunday, at £2 per child. Sudley House holds a Victorian Christmas on 5 and 6 December.
National Museums Liverpool had not published its Christmas opening times when we checked. Its museums open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm in winter, and in 2025 they closed from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, so check before you visit in late December.
Christmas opening times at the big attractions
- The Beatles Story: entry 10am to 3pm on 24 December, closed 25 and 26 December, entry 10am to 4pm on 31 December and 1 January.
- Royal Liver Building 360: no tours on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December.
- Mersey Ferries: weekend and bank holiday cruises run hourly from 10am to 3pm between 7 November and 7 February; check holiday sailings before you go.
- Tate Liverpool + RIBA North: closed 24, 25 and 26 December.
- The Beatles’ Childhood Homes: no National Trust tours from 21 to 31 December.
Practical tips
Liverpool is busy on December weekends, especially around Lime Street, St George’s Plateau and Liverpool ONE, so book skating, light shows and restaurants ahead. Dress for wind off the river rather than snow. Buses cost £2 a journey, and an off-peak Saveaway at £6.80 covers buses, trains and ferry crossings across Merseyside for a day. Dates and times can change, so check each organiser’s website close to your visit.