Romford Christmas lights: no switch-on here since 2023

If you are looking for the date of the Romford Christmas lights switch-on, the honest answer is that there has not been one since 2023, and nothing has been announced to bring it back for 2026.

That is not the whole story, though. Seven other Havering town centres did hold switch-on events last year, several of them within a short drive or a bus ride of Romford, and the council has said it intends to light the town centres again this year. Here is where things stood on 5 September 2026.

What happened to Romford’s switch-on

Romford’s switch-on was a large event in Market Place, with entertainment through the late afternoon, the lights going on around 7pm and a fireworks finale.

Havering Council cancelled it in 2024 as part of what it called urgent budget cuts, and also cut the funding for the borough’s Christmas trees and street lights. That was the year the council secured £54 million of government support after it could not produce a balanced budget. Marlborough Highways then donated £20,000 towards the festivities, and Romford Business Improvement District put together its own line-up of town centre events. (Romford Recorder)

It has not returned since. When the Recorder revisited this in July 2026, it described the 2023 event as “the last major Christmas lights switch-on in Romford”.

What the council has said about Christmas 2026

The council’s position, given to the Recorder and published on 31 July 2026, is that Christmas in Havering will depend on sponsorship and community groups for a third consecutive year.

A council spokesperson said: “The new administration are committed to making sure that Christmas is celebrated across our town centres and that trees and lights are a part of these festivities.” They added that the council “has already been in touch with town centre groups across Havering this year to see what their plans are along with potential sponsors for this year’s Christmas trees and lights”, and clarified afterwards that the council would be reliant on sponsorship but would “look to cover the difference from council funds”. (Romford Recorder, 31 July 2026)

That is a commitment to trees and lights, not to a Romford switch-on event. No dates, no venues and no sponsors have been named for 2026.

We checked the council’s own channels this week and found nothing further. Its Christmas in Havering page carries no dates at all, only a link to the events calendar and a sponsorship pitch. (havering.gov.uk/christmas) Filtering the council’s events calendar by its own “Christmas in Havering” category on 5 September returned a single generic library listing and no festive events. Its news page, current to 3 September, has nothing on Christmas.

The seven switch-ons that did run in 2025

This is the useful part while you wait. Last year the council published a full festive programme on 12 November 2025, funded by Marlborough Highways, Elm Site Services, AJS, FCC Environment, NC Construction Services and Moss and Coleman Solicitors, topped up with Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy money. Romford was not on the list. The seven that were: (Havering Council, 12 November 2025)

• Rainham, Friday 14 November from 5pm, in the Harris Academy sports hall. Santa meet and greet, performing princesses, carols, food vendors and stalls. Free entry.
• Hornchurch, Saturday 15 November, 11am to 5pm. The “Hornchurch Christmas Cracker” on the High Street, with fairground rides, stalls, performances and a treasure hunt. Lights on at 5pm.
• Upminster, Friday 21 November, 3pm to 6pm. Across Upminster Junior School, Station Road, Corbets Tey Road and the library, with children’s rides, the Hornchurch and Upminster Rotary Santa sleigh, the Upminster Baptist Church choir and Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps.
• Harold Hill, Sunday 23 November, noon to 6pm, at Hilldene Shopping Centre. Music, singers, dancers, market stalls, free children’s rides and Santa. Tree lights on at 5.30pm.
• Elm Park, Friday 28 November, 3.30pm to 6pm. Stilt walkers, a carousel, face painting, balloon modelling, a ukulele band and Father Christmas, with free grotto tickets booked through the Eye Clinic. Tree lighting at 5pm.
• Collier Row, Friday 28 November, 4pm to 8pm. “The Grouch Who Stole Christmas” around the town centre, with carol singers, a reindeer pen outside Keys and Lee, face painting, a craft trail and stalls inside North Romford Community Centre and the Ascension Church. Lights on at 6pm.
• Harold Wood, Saturday 29 November, 3pm to 7pm. “Light Before Christmas” at Station Road car park, with live music, a charity Christmas market, a nativity, food vendors and Santa.

Treat those as the shape of the programme, not as this year’s dates. Every one of them depended on a sponsor and a local group agreeing to run it again.

When to expect the 2026 dates

The timing has moved later each year, which is why searching in September turns up nothing. The council’s 2025 programme went out on 12 November, less than 48 hours before the first event. The sponsorship announcement that made it possible came in early September 2025.

So: a sponsorship story is due about now, and the dated programme is likely to land in the first half of November. This page is updated as each town centre confirms.

Two smaller Havering fixtures worth knowing about in the meantime. Romford BID runs its own free town centre events through the year, though nothing festive appears on its published 2026 programme. (Romford BID events) And the borough’s pantomime, which is the one big December fixture already fully on sale, is at the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch: see our Hornchurch pantomime page for the run and the prices.

Parking and getting in

Havering’s borough-wide 30 minutes free parking session applies everywhere except Romford, where tariffs start at £2.60 for the first hour. If you are heading to one of the other town centres for a switch-on, the free half hour is genuinely useful. Our Romford parking guide has the tariffs, the Sunday rules and the Blue Badge trap that catches people out in council car parks.

Switch-on evenings usually bring short road closures around the town centre concerned. None has been published for 2026. Our roadworks and travel page tracks the borough’s live closures from the council’s own statutory orders.