For the 2025/2026 season, the Oxford Street Christmas lights in London, featuring 5,000 star-shaped decorations, officially switch on at approximately 6 PM on Monday, 3 November 2025, and remain illuminated daily from 3 PM to 11 PM until 5 January 2026, as reported by crowngroupofhotels.com.
Planning your visit around the lights? Here's what you need to know about timing. The Oxford Street Christmas lights will run from Monday 3 November 2025 through Sunday 5 January 2026, giving you more than eight weeks to visit. The lights illuminate daily from around 3pm until 11pm throughout the season.
If Christmas Day is the first of the twelve days, then Twelfth Night would be on January 5, the eve of Epiphany. If December 26, the day after Christmas, is the first day, then Twelfth Night falls on January 6, the evening of Epiphany itself.
What time is the Regent Street light switch on in 2025?
The Regent Street Christmas lights for 2025 are scheduled to go on Thursday, November 6, 2025, part of the "Spirit of Christmas" display, with neighboring areas like St James's joining the festive glow on the same night. While a large public ceremony might not happen, the iconic "Spirit of Christmas" angels will illuminate the street, marking the start of the festive season in London, according to sources.
Who is turning on the Oxford Street lights in 2025?
3… 2…1… It's Christmas! Last night the West End's very own Miranda Priestly, Vanessa Williams, counted down and hit the button to switch on the iconic 'Sky Full of Stars' Christmas lights…
Oxford Street Christmas Lights Switched On | Vanessa Williams Lights Up London 2025 | WION
What is the most Christmassy part of London?
For the ultimate Christmassy feel in London, head to Covent Garden for its giant tree and lights, Regent Street for its iconic angel lights, and Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park for a massive festive market and carnival; while Chelsea's Sloane Square offers charming local lights and markets, creating a wonderfully festive atmosphere.
Both greetings are acceptable across December and on Christmas Day. In casual contexts it is also common to extend the exchange into the days following 25 December by saying Hope you had a Merry Christmas as people reconnect after the holiday.
What happens if you don't take decorations down by 12th night?
The tradition that it is bad luck to keep decorations up after Twelfth Night and the Epiphany is a modern invention, although it may derive from the medieval notion that decorations left up after Candlemas eve would become possessed by goblins!
They end today, Jan. 6, which is the Feast of Epiphany, the date marking when the Three Kings arrived to deliver their gifts to the newborn Jesus. That's why, according to Christian tradition, the Christmas season ends on Jan. 6, and that's when you should take down your tree and other decorations.
The Epiphany falls on 6th January, which means the decorations should, in theory, be tidied away on the 5th. This is the most popular date! However, not everyone follows this tradition. Many countries, including Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic believe the Twelfth Night to be the 6th.
According to Christian teaching, Christmas should be celebrated for 12 days beginning on Dec. 25 and running through Jan. 6. The last day is known as Epiphany.
In Germany, Christmas trees traditionally are unveiled fully decorated on Christmas Eve and then remains up in the home until the 12th day after Christmas (the twelve days of Christmas) this entire period is filled with celebration as they also celebrate the New Year.
This means that Oxford Street (between Orchard Street and Regent Street) is banned to traffic except buses, taxis and cyclists between 7am and 7pm (Monday – Saturday). I would remind people that anyone breaching these restrictions could receive a Penalty Charge Notice.
The lights were paid by shop owners and the local council, and were installed in order to give a sense of occasion to shoppers that could not be found anywhere else.
Twelfth Night is a Christian festival that takes place twelve days from Christmas Day, on 5 January. Many people believe is bad luck to leave your Christmas decorations up at this point. The twelve nights mark the coming of the feast of Epiphany on 6 January.
You should take down a nativity scene after the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th, or the Sunday after) to mark the end of the official Christmas liturgical season, but many traditions extend it to Candlemas (February 2nd) for the Presentation of Jesus, with no strict rule, though early removal after New Year's is also common for practical reasons.
Do the 12 days of Christmas begin or end on Christmas Day?
The 12 days of Christmas is the period in Christian theology that marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men. It begins today, December 25 (Christmas) and runs through January 6 (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings' Day).
Merry Christmas - on Christmas Day only. In the run up to Christmas - "Have yourself a good Christmas (when it comes)" On Boxing Day and thereafter - "Did you have a good Christmas?" Cannot wish people a Happy New Year until the year is actually new.
Christmas gifts are often exchanged on Christmas Eve (December 24), Christmas Day itself (December 25) or on the last day of the twelve-day Christmas season, Twelfth Night (January 5).
Thus, Jesus was believed to have been conceived and crucified on the same day of the year. Exactly nine months later, Jesus was born, on December 25. This idea appears in an anonymous Christian treatise titled On Solstices and Equinoxes, which appears to come from fourth-century North Africa.
Crowned the least Christmassy town in the UK was… Luton. The city scored the lowest on the festive spirit score, making it home to the Grinchiest of souls in the country. Second place went to Bradford, followed by Southampton in third.
Just a two-hour drive from Manchester, Bowness-on-Windermere takes the crown as the UK's most Christmassy town. With average December snowfall reaching 84mm and temperatures hovering around 4°C, it's one of the few places in the country where you might actually wake up to a white Christmas.
