Where to Photograph Christmas Lights

We are attempting to list all places where photographers can photograph Christmas Lights within the UK. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but those we have been able to identify from searching the internet. Information has been obtained from various different places. This is the start of a list that will both grow over time and hopefully we will be able to add more columns of information.

This list primarily lists those towns and cities that have Christmas light switch-on's, and many of the links take you to the information on what takes place at the switch-on, or to pictures of the switch-on event. So these are places where you can see and photograph lights. Switch-on's in most places start towards the end of November and into the first two weeks of December, but many then stay on until the New Year so there is plenty of time and opportunities to get your pics. We also tried to identify some of the streets and communities that decorate their houses in order to raise funds for charity, and although we have listed some here, there are going to be many more that we have missed. If your local lights are missing then please let us know and we will add it to this list. We would also like to see your photographs as well.

You will notice that in most instances we have listed only the name of the town and normally it will be the high street or main shopping area that has the lights on. In the case of London and a few other cases we have mentioned the road/street name where we have been able to identify it.

Town	County	Website Link	Notes
Ayrshire
Irvine	AYR
Kilmarnock	AYR
Kilwinning	AYR
West Kilbride Yuletide Night	AYR		3rd December 2010 starts 6.16pm
Buckinghamshire
High Wycombe	BKM
Berkshire
Eton	BRK	Windsor & Eton Events
Windsor	BRK	Windsor & Eton Events
Cambridgeshire
Cambridge	CAM
Peterborough	CAM
Cheshire
Chester	CHS
Sandbach	CHS
Cornwall
Mousehole Christmas Lights	COW	Mousehole Christmas Illuminations	18/12/2010 to 3/01/2011
Derbyshire
Ashbourne	DBY
Bakewell	DBY
Buxton	DBY
Chesterfield	DBY
Derby	DBY
Glossop	DBY
Ilkeston	DBY
Long Eaton	DBY
Matlock	DBY
Ripley	DBY
Swadlincote	DBY
Devon
Bideford	DEV
Clovelly	DEV	Visit Devon	switch on 5th December at 4pm
Durham
Sunderland	DUR
Essex
Basildon	ESS
Billercay	ESS
Colchester	ESS
Fife
Dunfermline	FIF	Dunfermline Switch On
Glamorgan
Cardiff	GLA	Winter Wonderland
Swansea	GLA	Swansea Christmas	26th November 2010 to 9th January 2011
Gloucestershire
Bourton on the Water	GLS	Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights SoGlos Xmas Lights	3rd December 2010 6pm-9pm
Bristol	GLS	Visit Bristol	11th November 2010 to 9th January 2011
Cheltenham	GLS	SoGlos Xmas Lights	20th November 2010
Chipping Campden	GLS	Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights	7th December 2010
Cinderford	GLS	SoGlos Xmas Lights	27th November 2010
Cirencester	GLS	SoGlos Xmas Lights Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights	28th November 2010
Coleford	GLS	SoGlos Xmas Lights	26th November 2010
Fairford	GLS	Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights	3rd December 2010
Gloucester	GLS	SoGlos Xmas Lights	21st November 2010
Lechlade	GLS	SoGlos Xmas Lights	4th December 2010
Lydney	GLS	SoGlos Xmas Lights	4th December 2010
Moreton in the Marsh	GLS	Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights	27th November 2010
Nailsworth	GLS	Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights SoGlos Xmas Lights	26th November 2010
Newent	GLS	SoGlos Xmas Lights Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights	27th November 2010
Stonehouse	GLS	SoGlos Xmas Lights	27th November 2010
Stow on the Wold	GLS
Stroud	GLS	Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights Goodwill Evening	3rd December 2010
Tetbury	GLS	Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights SoGlos Xmas Lights	2nd December 2010
Tewkesbury	GLS	Explore Gloucestershire Xmas Lights SoGlos Xmas Lights	28th November 2010
Wotton under Edge	GLS
Hampshire
Andover	HAM
Angus Kirk
Herefordshire
Hereford	HEF
Kent
Canterbury	KEN	Xmas in Canterbury
Faversham	KEN	Faversham Xmas Lights	27/11/2010 to 06/01/2011
Herne Bay	KEN	Herne Bay Lights	27th November 2010
Whitstable	KEN	Xmas in Whitstable
Lancashire
Ashton Under Lyne	LAN	Tameside Xmas Lights	18th November 2010
Audenshaw	LAN	Tameside Xmas Lights	22nd November 2010
Blackpool	LAN	Blackpool Xmas
Bolton	LAN	Bolton News	18th November 2010
Denton	LAN	Tameside Xmas Lights	15th November 2010
Droylsden	LAN	Tameside Xmas Lights	17th November 2010
Dukinfield	LAN	Tameside Xmas Lights	26th November 2010
Hyde	LAN	Tameside Xmas Lights	19th November 2010
Liverpool	LAN	Liverpool Xmas Lights	20th November 2010
Manchester	LAN	Manchester Xmas Lights	12th November 2010
Mossley	LAN	Tameside Xmas Lights	25th November 2010
Preston	LAN	Preston Lights	20th November 2010
Stalybridge	LAN	Tameside Xmas Lights	20th November 2010
London
Bond Street	LDN	Bond Street Switch On Details 18th November 2010
Carnaby Street	LDN	Carnaby Lights 10/11/2010 to 06/01/2011 After last years 6 metre pink inflatable reindeers, 2010 sees another spectacular display of inflatable gloves surrounded by planets, stars, sputniks and life sized Santa's complete with space suits and helmets. Richard Baker
Chingford, E4	LDN
Covent Garden	LDN	Covent Garden Lights	11th November 2010
Marylebone	LDN	Marylebone Switch On Details Marylebone Christmas Lights	17th November 2010
Oxford Street	LDN	Oxford Street Lights	4th November 2010
Regent Street	LDN	Regent Street Switch On Details	9th November 2010
Amanda Farah
Trafalgar Square Tree	LDN	Trafalgar Tree	02/12/2010 to 05/01/2011
Lincolnshire
Spalding	LIN	Spalding's Super Saturday	27th November 2010
Mid Lothian
Edinburgh	MLN	Edinburgh Xmas	Various locations around the city from 25th November through to 9th December 2010
Norfolk
Beccles	NFK
Diss	NFK
Great Yarmouth	NFK
Holt	NFK
Norwich	NFK	Norwich Christmas Events Christmas in Pictures	18th November 2010
Northamptonshire
Kettering	NTH
Nottinghamshire
Annesley	NTT	BBC Nottingham	3rd December 2010
Arnold	NTT	BBC Nottingham	26th November 2010
Beeston	NTT	BBC Nottingham Beeston Lights	28th November 2010
Bingham	NTT	Nottinghamshire Xmas BBC Nottingham	3rd December 2010
Blidworth	NTT
Clumber Park	NTT
Cotgrave	NTT	BBC Nottingham	4th December 2010
Eastwood	NTT	BBC Nottingham	24th November 2010
Kimberley	NTT
Mansfield	NTT	Nottinghamshire Xmas	18th November 2010
Mapperley	NTT	BBC Nottingham	27th November 2010
Newark	NTT	BBC Nottingham Newark Whats On (PDF)	28th November 2010
Nottingham	NTT	Nottinghamshire Xmas	24th November 2010
Ollerton	NTT
Radcliffe on Trent	NTT	BBC Nottingham	29th November 2010
Retford	NTT	BBC Nottingham	1st December 2010
Selston	NTT	BBC Nottingham	1st December 2010
Southwell	NTT
Stapleford	NTT
Tuxford	NTT
Underwood	NTT	BBC Nottingham	2nd December 2010
West Bridgford	NTT	Nottinghamshire Xmas	20th November 2010
Worksop	NTT	BBC Nottingham	24th November 2010
Oxfordshire
Abingdon	OXF	Oxford Lights	30th November 2010
Banbury	OXF	Oxford Lights	28th November 2010
Bicester	OXF	Oxford Lights	18th November 2010
Burford	OXF	Oxford Lights	28th November 2010
Carterton	OXF	Oxford Lights	3rd December 2010
Charlbury	OXF	Oxford Lights	27th November 2010
Chipping Norton	OXF	Oxford Lights	3rd December 2010
Didcot	OXF	Oxford Lights	25th November 2010
Eynsham	OXF	Oxford Lights	11th December 2010
Faringdon	OXF	Oxford Lights	27th November 2010
Henley on Thames	OXF	Oxford Lights	3rd December 2010
Kidlington	OXF	Oxford Lights	23rd November 2010
Oxford	OXF	Oxford Lights	26th November 2010
Thame	OXF	Oxford Lights	3rd December 2010
Wallingford	OXF	Oxford Lights	2nd December 2010
Wantage	OXF	Oxford Lights	3rd December 2010
Witney	OXF	Oxford Lights	26th November 2010
Woodstock	OXF	Oxford Lights	27th November 2010
Shropshire
Bridgnorth	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	26th November 2010
Cleobury Mortimer	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	5th December 2010
Dawley Lights and Lantern Parade	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	19th November 2010
Broseley	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	20th November 2010
Church Stretton	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	20th November 2010
Ironbridge	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	20th November 2010
Ludlow	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	27th November 2010
Madeley	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	26th November 2010
Oswestry	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	24th November 2010
Shifnal	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	26th November 2010
Shrewsbury	SAL	Xmas Lights	24th November 2010
Telford	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	25th November 2010
Whitchurch	SAL	Shropshire Christmas Lights	27th November 2010
Somerset
Bath	SOM	Bath Christmas Market	18th November 2010
Bridgwater	SOM		24th November 2010
Taunton	SOM		21st November 2010
Suffolk
Bungay	SFK
Halesworth	SFK
Loddon	SFK
Lowestoft	SFK
Surrey
Kingston Upon Thames	SRY	Kingston Lights	18/11/2010 to 07/01/2011
Sussex
Brighton	SSX	Brighton Lights	18th November 2010
Hastings	SSX
Warwickshire
Birmingham	WAR	Birmingham Lights	13/11/2010 to 06/01/2011
Coventry	WAR
Solihull	WAR
Sutton Coldfield	WAR
Westmoreland
Ambleside	WES	Ambleside Lights
Wiltshire
Highworth	WIL
Marlborough	WIL
Tim Norris
Longford Road, Melksham	WIL	Melksham Christmas Lights Mirror Newspaper Article
Alex Goodhind, Longford Road, Melksham, has lit up his street (fathers home) with 100,000 fairy lights – had an industrial power cable installed to supply electricity to them. Lights cost £30,000, 2007 electric bill ran to £700 (14^th year) – stay's lit until 10pm. Raised £3,000 in 2007 for charity.
Worcestershire
Halesowen	WOR
Pershore	WOR
Yorkshire
Wakefield Festival of Lights	YKS
Northern Ireland
Belfast	ANT