Rochester Dickensian Christmas: 5 and 6 December, Free

The Rochester Dickensian Christmas Festival is on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December 2026, from 10am to 6pm both days, across the historic town centre. It is free to attend.

Medway Council states the dates on its own Christmas in Rochester page and on the Visit Medway event listing, which also gives the 10am to 6pm hours. The council puts attendance at roughly 70,000 people over the weekend.

Checked on 4 September 2026 against the council’s own published material.

What is confirmed, and what is not

Confirmed by the council for 2026: the dates, the times, free entry, and the list of what the festival contains. Its own description names costumed parades, carol singers, bell ringers, street theatre with Dickens characters, live performances and street entertainers, hands-on Dickensian workshops, a Bavarian food village, a funfair in the castle gardens and, in the council’s phrase, “guaranteed snow”.

Not yet published: the programme. The Visit Medway page says plainly that “more details about the event including the programme, will be published here”, so there is no running order, no parade time and no list of performers yet. In recent years that detail has landed in November.

Trading applications for the festival are also still to open. The council’s page says they are “coming soon”, which is a separate track from the Christmas market stalls, where applications closed on 1 September.

The market runs on the same weekend

The Rochester Christmas Market in Castle Gardens is open on both festival days: Saturday 5 December 10am to 9pm and Sunday 6 December 10am to 6pm. The market stays open three hours later than the festival on the Saturday.

That is the reason this is the busiest weekend of the Medway year. Two events, one town centre, one small hill. If you are coming for the market alone, the first weekend, 27 to 29 November, or the last, 11 to 13 December, will be calmer.

Travel, parking and coaches

The council’s advice for both events is identical and blunt: parking in the centre of Rochester is limited, and visitors are encouraged to use public transport. Rochester railway station is around a five minute walk from Castle Gardens.

The park and ride is not confirmed. The festival page says additional information on travel “and the park and ride arrangements will be published soon”. As of 4 September the council has not published a 2026 park and ride location, price or timetable. Do not plan around one until it appears.

If you are driving anyway, the two car parks beside the castle, Boley Hill and High Street Two, have 22 spaces each and Rochester multi-storey has 280. Tariffs and which car parks take cash are in our parking in Medway page, and it is worth checking Medway roadworks and travel for the approach roads before you set off.

Coaches must pre-book, and one slot has already gone. The council states that all visiting coaches must book their parking for this event, and that the 5.30pm departure slot on Sunday 6 December is now full. Bookings are on 01634 333 433 or through the council’s coach form.

Access

The access arrangements the council publishes are written for the Christmas market, and the two events share the castle gardens site. Wheelchair users are directed to the castle gardens entrance on Baker’s Walk. The nearest Blue Badge bays are on The Esplanade, and every other council car park in Rochester has disabled parking. Accessible toilets are in the Castle Gardens, at Northgate, at Rochester Community Hub, which has a Changing Places toilet, and in the Corn Exchange.

We will update this page

The three things still missing are the programme and parade times, the park and ride, and the road closures. All three are expected during November. This page will be updated when the council publishes them.