Magical events this Christmas in Sheffield city centre 💫
📖 Article published 6 November 2025.
Revel in the sights and sounds of Christmas in Sheffield city centre, all kinds of festive encounters await.
Here's 'our pick' of this year's very best festive events in Sheffield city centre.
Please note: all information correct at time of writing.
Sheffield Christmas Market
📅 Thursday 13 November to Wednesday 24 December 2025
📍 Fargate, Barkers Pool, Peace Gardens and The Moor.
💫 Click for further information
Crackers for Christmas
📅 Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 November 2025
📍 Fargate, Barkers Pool, Peace Gardens and The Moor
💫 Click for further information
Christmas Tree Festival
📅 Tuesday 2 December 2025 to Sunday 11 January 2026
📍 Sheffield Cathedral
💫 Click for further information
Light Up Sheffield
🗓️ Friday 5 to Sunday 14 December 2025
📍 Pound's Park, Sheffield Cathedral and Sheffield Central Library
💫 Click for further information
Pete McKee's Nativity Artwork
📅 Friday 5 December 2025 to Friday 30 January 2026
📍 Sheffield Cathedral
💫 Click for further information
Festive Forties: 1940s Christmas Weekend
📅 Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 December 2025
📍 National Emergency Services Museum
💫 Click for further information
Sheffield Christmas Market
📅 Thursday 13 November to Wednesday 24 December 2025
💷 Free to attend, with some paid-for activities available
📍 Fargate, Barkers Pool, Peace Gardens and The Moor.
The city centre's famous Sheffield's Christmas Market is back with a selection of seasonal food and drink and unique gift ideas.
Celebrating Sheffield's great independent scene, there'll be a whole host of traders with many of them based locally.
Expect Alpine-themed bars, a traditional German sausage grill, Yorkshire pudding wraps, mulled wine, cider, hot chocolate, churros and many more treats.
See the city centre from the sky, with a ride on the iconic Big Wheel or prepare to meet the big man himself at Santa's Grotto in Barker's Pool.
Crackers for Christmas
📅 Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 November 2025
💷 Free to attend. No booking required
📍Fargate, Barkers Pool, Peace Gardens and The Moor.
Celebrate the opening weekend of the Sheffield Christmas Market with an array of festive family entertainment across the city centre.
Expect big bands, choirs, dance, panto, street entertainment, children's costume characters, crafts and storytelling.
💫 Visit the Welcome to Sheffield website for further details on what to expect across a packed weekend.
ℹ️ Download the official Crackers for Christmas map.
Christmas Tree Festival
📅 Tuesday 2 December 2025 to Sunday 11 January 2026
💷 Free to attend. No booking required
📍 Sheffield Cathedral
Head inside Sheffield Cathedral's historic space and you’ll discover the sight – and scent – of more than 40 beautifully decorated Christmas trees.
Local businesses, charities and schools have joined in the fun to each decorate a tree for this year's Christmas Tree Festival.
💫 Visit the Sheffield Cathedral website for further details.
Light Up Sheffield
📅 Friday 5 to Sunday 14 December 2025
💷 Free to attend. No booking required
📍 Sheffield Cathedral, Sheffield Central Library and Pound's Park
The city centre is set to be lit up 'like never before', courtesy of a new illumination event.
For ten magical nights, Light Up Sheffield will see three of Sheffield’s most iconic landmarks — Sheffield Cathedral, Sheffield Central Library and Pound's Park — transformed with breathtaking light projections inspired by the city itself.
Created in collaboration with Sheffield artists, the illuminations will celebrate both the city’s heritage and its creativity today.
Light Up Sheffield highlights include:
- Acclaimed artist Pete McKee, whose distinctive style will light up both Sheffield Cathedral and Sheffield Central Library and
- Peachzz, one of the UK’s most exciting emerging street artists, whose record-breaking mural ‘Reverie’ will come to life at Pounds Park.
💫 Visit the Welcome to Sheffield website for further details.
Pete McKee's Nativity Artwork
📅 Friday 5 December 2025 to Friday 30 January 2026
💷 Free to attend. No booking required
📍 Sheffield Cathedral
Celebrate the festive season at Sheffield Cathedral with a new artwork by Sheffield artist Pete McKee.
‘A Sheffield Nativity’ captures the joyful chaos of a school nativity, while celebrating the Cathedral’s Schools Singing Programme, Sheffield’s people and Christmas traditions, and The Archer Project’s vital work supporting those with lived experience of homelessness.
Set in McKee’s instantly recognisable style — vibrant, witty, nostalgic, and full of joy — the painting will take permanent residence at the Cathedral and is completely free to view for all.
🎄 Visit the Sheffield Cathedral website for further details.
Festive Forties: 1940s Christmas Weekend
📅 Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 December 2025
💷 Tickets from the National Emergency Services Museum website
📍 National Emergency Services Museum
Join the National Emergency Services Museum as they turn the clock back 80 years.
Step into a fabulous forties festive wonderland and join a whole host of costumed characters, living history interpreters and even Father Christmas for a truly traditional Christmas event.
💫 Visit Wartime Christmas | 999 Museum for details. Pre-booking tickets is strongly recommended.
Planning your visit to the city centre?
Whether your using public transport, cycling, walking or choosing to visit in the car, you'll find lots of useful information in our online guide to getting into and around the city centre.
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