Christmas Markets UKThe 2026 season, market by market

Ballater Winter Festival

Saturday 28 November 2026 Opens in 49 days

Saturday; indoor fayre 10am–4pm, outdoor market 10am–3pm, reindeer 12 noon–3pm

Indoor craft fayre 10am–4pm; outdoor Christmas market 10am–3pm (2026 plan)

Victoria and Albert Halls and the church greens, Ballater, Ballater, Aberdeenshire · Scotland

MakersFood & drinkSanta’s grottoLive music Free entry, some paid attractions

Official website Add to calendar Stay near Ballater Ad
The granite Albert Memorial Hall in Ballater, with its square tower and tall windows, facing a paved square
The Albert Memorial Hall in Ballater, one of the Victoria and Albert Halls where the Winter Festival is held (photo 2025) — Photo: Bill Harrison, CC BY-SA 2.0

A one-day community winter festival in the Royal Deeside village of Ballater, with an indoor craft fayre, an outdoor Christmas market on the village greens, Santa's grotto and the Cairngorm reindeer.

Ballater, the Victorian village on the River Dee near Balmoral, holds its Winter Festival on a Saturday at the end of November. There are two markets: an indoor craft fayre in the Victoria Hall and an outdoor Christmas market on the church greens, which the organisers expect to have more than 40 craft stalls and around six hot food vendors.

Around the markets there are primary school choirs, children's fairground rides, a chance to climb into tractors and a fire engine, and the Cairngorm Reindeer on the green in the early afternoon. Santa's Grotto, in the Albert Hall and Mike Sheridan Room, includes crafts, games and a letter-writing station; tickets are bought from the festival hub on the day.

The markets are free to enter. The outdoor market closes an hour earlier than the indoor fayre, a change the organisers made after feedback from previous years.

Dates by season

SeasonDatesStatus
2026–27 Sat 28 Nov 2026Saturday; indoor fayre 10am–4pm, outdoor market 10am–3pm, reindeer 12 noon–3pm Coming up
Add to calendar (Sat 28 Nov 2026)
2025–26 Sat 29 Nov 2025Saturday; markets free to enter Held

Dates are taken from the market’s own website or official announcements and were last checked on 6 October 2026. Plans can change, so please check with the organiser before you travel. Spotted a change? Tell us.

Visitors’ reviews

No reviews yet. If you’ve been, yours could be the first.

Review Ballater Winter Festival

Been to this market? Tell others what it was really like — the atmosphere, the stalls, the food and drink, the crowds. Reviews must be your own first-hand experience, and you mustn’t be connected with the market or its stallholders — see our review policy. Every review is checked by a person before it appears.

Overall, how was it? Required — this makes up the market’s rating.
Atmosphere The setting, the lights, the feel of the place · optional, 1 = poor, 5 = excellent
Stalls & gifts The stalls and what’s for sale · optional, 1 = poor, 5 = excellent
Food & drink Food, mulled wine and other drinks · optional, 1 = poor, 5 = excellent
Add photos (optional)
Photos

Up to 4 photos (JPEG, PNG, WebP, up to 8 MB each) of the stalls, the lights and the setting. No close-ups of people, please. Location data and other hidden information are removed, and every photo is checked by a person before it appears.

We store your review, display name, ratings and the date, plus a scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address to stop abuse, which we delete after 30 days. See our privacy notice.

Comments

No comments yet — questions, tips and plans are all welcome.

Add a comment

Ask a question, share a tip (parking, the quietest time to go, dogs, accessibility…) or say what you’re looking forward to. Comments are checked by a person before they appear. Please don’t post personal details.

We store your comment, display name and the date, plus a scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address to stop abuse, deleted after 30 days. See our privacy notice.

Also in Scotland this season

Aberdeen Christmas Village

When: Thu 12 Nov 2026 – Sun 3 Jan 2027 Opens in 33 days

Open daily except 25 Dec, 26 Dec and 1 Jan; Curated in the Square dates not yet published

Aberdeen, City of Aberdeen

Big cityMakersFood & drink

Crathes Christmas Fair

When: Fri 13 – Sun 15 Nov 2026 Opens in 34 days

Friday to Sunday, 10am–3pm

Banchory, Aberdeenshire

MakersFood & drinkCastle & estate