York Castle Museum's Christmas runs 14 November to 3 January: Kirkgate set on Christmas Eve, Green Father Christmas, Scrooge and carols, adults £18.
York Castle Museum will spend the whole of this winter on the night before Christmas. From Saturday 14 November to Sunday 3 January, Kirkgate, the museum’s recreated Victorian street, is dressed for Christmas Eve, with snow on the cobbles, a grand tree, garlands along the shop fronts and festive goods in the windows.
New this year, the museum says, Kirkgate “comes alive with shadows and silhouettes of the street’s residents preparing for Christmas, decorating their trees and sharing a mistletoe kiss”. The decorations are by the designers Spatial Projects.
The Kirkgate characters, carol singers and music are all included in the normal admission ticket, which for an adult is £18 and, as always at York Castle Museum, lets you back in free for 12 months. Children who live in a City of York Council YO postcode get in free.
“Every day feel like the night before Christmas”
Carla Starkey, Immersive Interpretation Producer at York Castle Museum, said:
“We are so excited for Christmas this year at York Castle Museum, making every day feel like the night before Christmas. We really wanted to capture the excitement that many people feel, the gifts, the food, the traditions of Victorian England, some of which we still do today.
“There will be performances, extra goodies in the shop windows on Kirkgate to spot and of course the new decorations from Spatial Projects to give visitors a sense of what might be going on behind the Kirkgate doors in preparation for Christmas and get everyone in the festive spirit.”
It is not only the Victorian street. York Museums Trust says the season runs through the museum’s other rooms too: seventeenth and eighteenth-century feasts laid out in the historical dining rooms, Victorian parlours, and twentieth-century decorations. Christmas songs from the decade will play in the Sixties gallery, and the recreated kitchens get “1980s Christmas foodie favourites and chart-topping music”.
Who is on Kirkgate, and which day
The characters and musicians appear on set days only, so it is worth matching your visit to the one you want. From the museum’s own listings:
- Victorian carol singers from Same Difference Arts: every Saturday, 14 November to 19 December, with performances through the day.
- Green Father Christmas, in his traditional long green cloak, greeting visitors on Kirkgate: every Sunday from 15 November to 20 December, Wednesdays 2 to 23 December and Thursdays 3 to 17 December.
- The Ran Tanners, playing carols and tunes: every Monday, 7 to 21 December.
- Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, a one-man show on Kirkgate: every Friday, 20 November to 18 December, plus Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December.
Workshops and evening events, booked separately
These are charged on top of admission, must be booked in advance, and are for ages 16 and over (under-18s with an adult). Places are limited.
| Event | Date and time | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Festive Wreath Making | Sat 28 Nov or Mon 30 Nov, 10.30am to 1pm | £35 |
| Letterpress Festive Greeting Cards | Wed 2 Dec or Sat 5 Dec, 10.30am to 1.30pm | £35 |
| An Evening with Ebenezer Scrooge | Fri 11 Dec, 6.30pm to 8.30pm | £23 |
| Ghost Stories for Christmas by Edwyrdian Tales | Sun 13 Dec, 6.30pm to 8.30pm | £23 |
The wreath workshop is led by Mandy Barker of Wedding Blossoms, York, using locally grown seasonal materials for the base. The card workshop makes six cards. Both include materials, tools, refreshments and museum admission on the day. The two evenings include a mince pie and mulled wine or a soft drink; the Edwyrdian Tales night is billed as traditional ghost stories set at Christmastide, including tales by H.R. Wakefield and Algernon Blackwood and one written by the storyteller.
Quieter mornings
On seven mornings the museum is running relaxed Christmas visits from 9am to 11am, with lower sound, steadier lighting, sensory backpacks and ear defenders to borrow, and quiet spaces in the Kirkgate Learning Studio. They are included in general admission and open to anyone: Tuesdays 17 and 24 November, 1, 8 and 15 December, and Saturdays 5 and 12 December. The museum suggests a 9am or 9.30am arrival slot for the calmest entry; the full lighting, projections and sound come back on at 11am. Details are on the relaxed visits page.
Tickets and opening times
General admission is bought online from York Castle Museum, and every ticket is an annual pass:
- Adult £18; child (5 to 16) £10.80; under-5s free
- Family saver, two adults and two children £52, or two adults and three children £61
- Young person or student (17 to 24) £16.20; 65 and over £16.20
- Reduced mobility concession £9
- Free for children living in City of York Council YO postcodes, and for people on means-tested benefits including Universal Credit, MAX Card holders and Visit York Pass holders, among others the museum lists
The museum opens Mondays 11am to 5pm and Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm, with seasonal hours over Christmas: check the museum’s site before a holiday visit. It advises booking ahead on Saturdays and during school holidays.
The gift shop has a Green Father Christmas bauble designed for the museum.
York Castle Museum sits in the eighteenth-century Debtors’ Prison and Female Prison buildings and is run by the charity York Museums Trust. For more Christmas days out, see our guides to York Minster at Christmas, Santa grottos in York, Castle Howard’s Christmas and the York ice rinks, plus the Christmas lights switch-ons.
Sources: Christmas at York Castle Museum 2026; tickets and prices; relaxed Christmas visits; York Museums Trust press release, 20 October 2026.
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