Truro Christmas Market

Truro is Cornwall’s only city, and its Christmas market on Lemon Quay is the largest in the county. It opens daily for more than a month, with the market’s festive spirit spreading out from the quay into the streets around it.

Dates

For 2026 the market runs from Saturday 21 November to Thursday 24 December, open every day — thirty-four days in all. That long run makes it easy to fit around a Cornish winter break, and it is the Christmas market in the far South West that you can rely on being open when you arrive.

What to expect

A strong emphasis on Cornish producers and makers: handmade gifts and decorations, local food and drink, and seasonal treats. If you are buying presents to take home from a Cornish holiday, this is the place — expect Cornish cheese, gin, cider, fudge and pasties alongside the crafts.

The start of the season

Truro’s Christmas traditionally opens with the City of Lights, one of Cornwall’s biggest free events, when a lantern parade winds through the streets and the city’s lights are switched on. It is usually timed with the start of the market; we will list the 2026 date once the organisers confirm it.

Getting there

Lemon Quay is in the middle of the city. Truro station, on the main line from London Paddington to Penzance, is around ten to fifteen minutes’ walk. The city centre is compact; parking is limited on busy December weekends, and the park and ride sites are a better bet.

Make a day of it

Truro Cathedral, a Gothic Revival building completed in the early twentieth century and the first new Anglican cathedral in England since St Paul’s, is a few minutes’ walk from the market and holds a full programme of Advent and Christmas services. Lemon Street, with its Georgian terraces, and the Royal Cornwall Museum are both nearby.